Missing nine-year-old Shannon Matthews was found alive today 24 days after she disappeared.

TIMELINE: Missing for 24 days The disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews resulted in one of the largest police search operations seen in recent years. Twenty-four days after going missing she was found alive in a house near her home town of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Here is how the events unfurled. :: February 19: The last confirmed sighting of Shannon, from Dewsbury Moor, is at 3.10pm outside West Moor Junior School, after she returns from a swimming lesson. Shannon is reported missing hours after failing to return home from school. West Yorkshire Police launch a search of the local area, making inquiries throughout the night. :: February 20: Shannon's mother, Karen Matthews, makes a plea for her daughter to return home. Posters featuring Shannon's picture are distributed to passers-by and posted around the neighbourhood. West Yorkshire Police say 200 officers are helping in the search and scores of local people spend a second night scouring gardens, parks and buildings. :: February 21: Police say they are treating a possible new sighting of Shannon, near her home by an adult on the morning of February 20, as "significant". Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan confirms to a packed press conference that friends of the missing girl have told police she was talking about running away from home. He describes her as vulnerable and certainly not "streetwise". :: February 22: Police release CCTV footage showing the "timid" youngster shortly before she disappeared, entering and leaving the Dewsbury Sports Centre Swimming Pool, surrounded by a group of friends. Detectives say they remain "gravely concerned" about the schoolgirl. Mr Brennan confirms statements made by Shannon's natural father, who separated from her mother a number of years ago, that Shannon had written on her bedroom wall about wanting to go to live with him. Leon Rose said his daughter may have tried to get to his home in nearby Huddersfield. :: February 23: Neighbours of missing Shannon, some wearing T-shirts showing pictures of the nine-year-old, gather together at the residents' association hall near her home to support the search. Police say so far they have received more than 300 calls from members of the public and the operation has included searches of over 200 homes within a half-mile radius of Moorside Road. Officers with underwater breathing apparatus search a pond behind Dewsbury Hospital as part of the investigation. :: February 24: The congregation at St James Church, Heckmondwike, close to the youngster's home, began their Sunday service with prayers for her safe return. The police operation focuses on areas close to her family home and groups of officers are seen conducting house-to-house inquiries in the vicinity. :: February 25: Fifty specialist police officers are drafted in to check wheelie bins on the route Shannon would have taken home from West Moor Junior School. :: February 26: Friends and neighbours of Shannon hold a vigil - exactly one week after she disappeared. :: March 1: Shannon's mother makes an emotional plea for her daughter's return home on the eve of Mother's Day. :: March 4: As the search enters its third week, Shannon's parents and her headteacher, Krystyna Piatkowski hold a joint press conference to reissue their call for information. :: March 5: Police release a recording of the 999 call made by Shannon's mother in the hope that it will prompt witnesses to come forward. :: March 11: Three weeks to the day since the disappearance, police teams stress there will be no let-up in the search for missing Shannon. Almost half of the UK specialist search dogs are involved in the operation, they announce. :: March 12: Shannon's mother says in a radio interview that she believed someone she knows had snatched her daughter to hurt her. :: March 14: Shannon is found alive in Batley Carr, 24 days after going missing. A 39-year-old man is arrested in relation to her disappearance.

Police smashed their way into a flat about a mile from her home in Dewsbury to find the youngster concealed in the base of a divan bed.

West Yorkshire police said a 39-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of abduction at the address in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr.

Relatives were elated at the news that Shannon had been found alive.

Shannon's aunt Amanda Hyett said: "We've all heard the news. It is great news."

Victoria Saunders, 28, a cousin of Shannon's mother Karen Matthews, who lives a few doors down from her, said: "I've just heard it from her stepfather Craig's sister.

"I'm feeling huge relief. I'm really happy and excited. I haven't been sleeping since she went, but I'm just so happy now."

The West Yorkshire Police statement said: "As part of ongoing investigations, detectives and specialist search officers attended a house at Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, Dewsbury, at 12.30pm this afternoon.

"During a search of the house, officers located Shannon Matthews who was found concealed in the base of a divan bed.

"A 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of abduction at the address and is currently in custody at a West Yorkshire police station.

"Shannon is currently in the care of West Yorkshire Police.

"Investigations are ongoing."

Residents in Lidgate Gardens said police emerged from the flat carrying Shannon.

The young girl looked "quite calm" and officers confirmed that she was OK.

A local resident, who did not want to give her name, said: "One of my neighbours heard banging.

"When he went outside, police were breaking the door down - the man wouldn't come out so they broke in.

"Apparently they found her in bed. He said she was quite calm. Police carried her out.

"My neighbour asked, 'is it Shannon?" and the policeman just said, 'yes' and said she was OK."

The neighbour said rumours in the street suggested that the man who occupied the flat where Shannon was found lived alone and had children who had been taken into care.

She added: "We haven't seen him for two or three years. But apparently he's come back."

The woman who lives downstairs from him tipped off police after hearing footsteps, she said.

The neighbour did not know whether police arrested the man.

Shannon had not been seen since she disappeared after a school swimming trip in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on February 19.

Ms Hyett, Shannon's next door neighbour as well as aunt, said the schoolgirl's mother had been driven away by police from the family home shortly before 2pm.

Earlier this week mother-of-seven Mrs Matthews, 32, said she believed someone she knows had snatched her daughter to hurt her.

But Mrs Matthews said she did not know who could have taken the shy youngster.

Mrs Matthews said: "She got abducted. That's all I can say."

Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann, were among the first to welcome the news.

Their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said the news gave them hope.

He said: "Kate and Gerry are aware that she has been found alive. They feel that is excellent news, they are delighted that she is alive.

"They will not comment more until they know the full circumstances. Suffice to say that they will keep on looking until they have a happy resolution in Madeleine's case.

"It proves that children can go missing for whatever reason and still be found alive.

"Until Kate and Gerry know what has happened to Madeleine, there will always be hope for them that she too will be found alive.

"They will keep on looking as long as there is hope."

Christopher Heaps, who lives at number 4, said he had heard banging.

"About five minutes after that a policeman came out with a girl under his arms," he told Sky News.

"I just said to the policeman 'Is that Shannon?' and he said 'Yeah, this is Shannon'.

"I was very shocked... I couldn't believe it was on my own doorstep."

He added that a woman in the downstairs flat raised the alarm.

"She said that she heard a child's footsteps above and she knew that he hadn't got any children, I think she called the police and they took it from there then."

Children returning from school to houses in Shannon's road were crying and hugging each other.

Callie Brown, eight, who is in Shannon's class at school, said: "We all had to go into the hall for an assembly. I was crying my eyes out.

"I'm going to give these 22 letters to her from her friends. I have missed her loads."

A large area of Batley Carr had been sealed off by police, with police tape surrounding one long terrace of houses in Lidgate Gardens.

The back door of number 26 had been kicked in by police and the doorframe was hanging off.

The man arrested by police had two daughters taken into care several years ago, according to a neighbour.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said: "It was around two or three years ago it happened because his wife was unwell at the time and he couldn't look after them.

"I thought he had left the area but maybe he came back recently.

"A neighbour came to tell me there were police in the street and said the woman in the flat downstairs had called the police.

"Apparently she heard a child's footsteps and knew he did not have any children so she was suspicious."

Conservative leader David Cameron said he was "delighted" to hear that Shannon had been found alive.

Speaking to reporters at his party's spring forum in Gateshead, Mr Cameron said: "I just feel huge relief on behalf of Shannon and her family.

"It is wonderful news that she's been found alive and, I hope, well.

"So often in these cases, you wait and you wait and then you hear tragic and awful news. All of us were thinking that was maybe what might happen and it is great that she is alive."

A local resident, who would not be named, said he saw the man and Shannon coming out of the house.

"They dragged him out," he said. "I was hurling abuse at him. She was coming out at the same time."

Peter Brown, who lives in Shannon's road, said he was the first one to tell Karen Matthews that her daughter was alive.

He said: "She just froze. She was in shock. Then her reaction was crying.

"After that, she had a phone call from the police liaison officer. They came to pick her up, Karen and Craig both left the house together.

"We're going to have a party tonight."

Batley Carr resident Mandy Dixon, 37, described how police arrived at the property in Lidgate Gardens at lunchtime today.

She said Shannon was brought out of the property first by a plain clothes officer.

She said: "A neighbour shouted out 'Is it Shannon?' and they said 'Yes, it is'.

"I then said 'Has Shannon been found?' and they said 'Yes'.

"I couldn't see Shannon's face - she was covered up. She was clinging to the officer for dear life."

She said the suspect was then "dragged" out of the property and into a waiting vehicle.

"He wasn't walking, he was just limp. There were two men on either side of him. They were dragging him."

Miss Dixon, a mother of four, said the man had lived at the property for about three or four years.

"He kept himself to himself. He was always washing his car but in recent weeks he hasn't.

"As far as I'm aware he didn't work. He was very quiet and never said much to anybody."

Meanwhile, near Shannon's home in Dewsbury, family and friends stood in the road celebrating by drinking cans of beer and bottles of wine.

Family friend Petra Jamieson said she was angry that Shannon's parents had been under suspicion over her disappearance.

She said: "Karen and Craig are like any normal family. They get angry with their kids sometimes. That's just like the rest of us.

"But at least the bad stories kept it in the papers and now Shannon has been found. That's the main thing."

The Mayor of Kirklees Jean Calvert said: "Like everyone else who has been following the events of the last three weeks I'm delighted that Shannon has been found.

"It's an immense relief for the family, relatives and friends of Shannon and those who've supported the efforts to find her and have shown so much concern over what's been a very traumatic few weeks for them and the local community."

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Shannon's father 'over the moon'

The father of Shannon Matthews said today he was "over the moon" that his daughter had been found alive.

Leon Rose said being reunited with the missing nine-year-old would be like "winning the lottery".

He also thanked everyone who helped in the 24-day search for Shannon, as he insisted he had never given up hope.

Mr Rose told Sky News: "I did say on the news I wasn't going to give up until she was found.

"I've kept going, and every day I went out there as much as I could."

Shannon's mother, Karen Matthews, was said to be "in shock" after being told the news.

Victoria Saunders, 28, a cousin of Mrs Matthews, said: "I'm feeling huge relief.

"I'm really happy and excited. I haven't been sleeping since she went, but I'm just so happy now."

Shannon's schoolmates were crying and hugging each other as they returned home this afternoon.

Callie Brown, eight, who is in the same class as Shannon, said: "We all had to go into the hall for an assembly. I was crying my eyes out.

"I'm going to give these 22 letters to her from her friends. I have missed her loads."

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann were among the first to welcome the news.

Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said the development gave the couple hope.

He said: "Kate and Gerry are aware that she has been found alive. They feel that is excellent news, they are delighted that she is alive...

"It proves that children can go missing for whatever reason and still be found alive."

Conservative leader David Cameron said he was "delighted" to hear that Shannon had been found alive.

Speaking to reporters at his party's Spring Forum in Gateshead, he said: "I just feel huge relief on behalf of Shannon and her family.

"It is wonderful news that she's been found alive and, I hope, well.

"So often in these cases, you wait and you wait and then you hear tragic and awful news.

"All of us were thinking that was maybe what might happen and it is great that she is alive."

Paul Tuohy, chief executive of charity Missing People, said: "This is fantastic news for Shannon's family, the local community, and will also offer hope to other families who await news of a missing loved one.

"At any one time the charity has around 6,000 open missing cases and we hope that each and every one will have the same successful resolution.

"Like Shannon, every missing person matters and we hope that the interest in missing as a social issue will now stay firmly on the agenda of Government, policymakers and the media."

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Shannon's return 'unusual'

Shannon Matthews is one of only a tiny percentage of children who are found alive after going missing for almost a month, a national missing persons organisation said today.

Her return has been described as "highly unusual" by the manager of the UK Police National Missing Persons Bureau.

Davinia Darch said: "It's usually teenagers that return home safely after going missing for that length of time."

"With a young child you would hope to find them very early on, the first six hours are crucial.

"Unlike teenagers, they do not tend to go missing of their own intent, they are abducted and unless you know it's not a parental abduction for instance, sadly you would expect to find a body after a short period of time.

"Quite honestly it is strange for a nine-year-old to be found alive after a month when a known factor is not involved."

Devastatingly one in 700 missing five to nine-year-old girls result in homicide said Ms Darch.

Every year 50,000 0-17-year-olds go missing in the UK - 75% return to their families within 48 hours and approximately 90% within five days.

The PNMPB advises families who fear a child is missing to act immediately by telling the police, speaking to families and friends and by starting a search in local areas.