A dangerous sex offender who had been on the run in Oxfordshire for 48 hours was last night back behind bars.

Police had launched a manhunt for 39-year-old Kevin Aldred, who had been released from prison in December.

He had been serving a five-year jail term for indecently assaulting two women in the street, but was set free on licence.

Officers warned that Aldred was "unpredictable" and likely to reoffend and were urging people across the county - particularly women - to be vigilant.

But within an hour of police launching an urgent media appeal for information, Aldred - who broke his curfew on Wednesday night - was in police custody.

Police refused to say why they had not informed the public sooner about a sex offender being on the loose in the county.

Chief Supt Shaun Morley said details were released when it was deemed "appropriate".

Aldred had been living at an address in Oxfordshire, which officers declined to give.

It was part of the conditions of his prison release licence and was subject to "multi-agency public protection arrangements" for sex offenders, police explained.

Officers knew Aldred had left his home at 9.20pm on Wednesday and he had been spotted south of Oxford city centre about 24 hours later, but was still at large until about 6pm last night.

The police helicopter had been searching for him and police officers had all been issued with photographs of him, along with CCTV camera control room operators.

Aldred will now automatically be sent back to prison.

He had been released from Wood Hill Prison, near Milton Keynes, after serving about three years of the five-year sentence.

When Aldred was sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court in August 2004, the judge put him on extended licence, recommending that he be monitored for longer than the usual duration after his release, because he was considered to be a high risk to the public.

He would have been on licence until May 2012.

He had been subject to daily visits from probation officers until breaking his curfew on Wednesday.

Paul Gillbard, the director of offender management for Thames Valley Probation Service, said: "He wasn't regarded as the most serious offender, but was subject to constant surveillance and was monitored closely."

Aldred is not believed to have mental health problems but had been warned about abusing alcohol shortly before breaking his curfew.

He had been jailed for two indecent assaults, both of which involved him walking up to women in the street and attacking them.

Police would not say where these incidents had happened.