Arsonist David Blagdon was finally recaptured by police in Derbyshire last night - eight hours after the Oxford Mail tried to tell Thames Valley Police he was on the run in the city.

David BlagdonPolice in Oxfordshire failed to arrest Blagdon, who did not return after being allowed out of the open prison where he is serving a life sentence, despite being told exactly where he was by the Mail.

Blagdon was eventually recaptured by police in Derbyshire at 8.45pm yesterday - eight hours after the Mail tried and failed to alert Thames Valley Police that the escaped convict was at large in the county.

He contacted our Osney Mead offices yesterday after absconding from Sudbury Open Prison to see his girlfriend and protest about his treatment.

The 50-year-old - jailed for setting fire to curtains at St Laurence's Church, South Hinksey, in July 1978 - phoned chief feature writer George Frew on Monday morning. Mr Frew met the fugitive in Oxford to verify that he was in the city, tried to get him to give himself up, then saw him catch a bus which was due to arrive in Bicester at 1pm.

But when the Mail contacted Thames Valley Police we found it almost impossible to hand over this information. Deputy editor Dennis Johnstone made an initial call to the offices of Oxford area commander, Supt David McWhirter, at about 12.40pm to find out who was the best person to pass the information on to.

Despite being told the nature of the call, a member of staff told us to speak to the press office - which is staffed by civilian workers who have no police training. There we were greeted by an answering machine.

Calls were then made to two Oxford CID inspectors. The phone on one extension rang out and a woman eventually answered the second.

But after being told of the situation, she said that no-one was available in CID as staff were on annual leave and the department was "stretched".

Asked if we should call 999, the woman said no. She kindly tried to put a call through to Bicester police station, but could not be connected.

We then asked the woman for a direct number for the station, only to be told that it was locked away in a desk and she did not have the keys.

Next, we tried to call Bicester CID direct, but got no answer, so we tried to call the station's front desk.

When the call was answered and the situation explained, the desk officer wanted to put us through to the press office once again. By this time it was 1pm, the time of the bus's arrival.

After a long conversation, a front-desk officer finally took the call seriously and it was passed on. But by then it was 1.10pm and Blagdon had gone.

Police spokesman Lucy Ferguson said: "The Mail does appear to have been passed to various people on what was anurgent call to Oxford police, and for that we offer our apologies.

"However, if the Mail had contacted us as soon as the paper had information about the prisoner, we could then have worked in conjunction with the Mail and would have taken positive action at an earlier stage.

"We always advise members of the public when ringing into the police station to contact the Crimedesk/ Helpdesk on 01865 266333, as they are trained to deal with urgent calls, and in this situation would have been able to offer assistance immediately."

Blagdon was recaptured at the home of his girlfriend, Melanie Lancashire, in Alfreton last night.

She told the Mail: "He turned up out of the blue. and gave me a big hug. He wants us to be together."