A father who claimed a Wolverhampton bank had lost a safety deposit box containing £190,000 worth of his family valuables has been arrested in connection with its disappearance, it emerged today.

Tahir Khan and two women, aged 22 and 30, were questioned by police on suspicion of fraud after the container went missing from Barclays, in Queen Square.

The father-of-five made national headlines last week when he said the steel storage box – containing his wife’s wedding jewellery and £12,000 in cash – had not been seen since July 2008.

He told the Express and Star: “I feel at the end of my tether and I don’t know what I can do. You put things in a bank because they are meant to be the safest places possible, it’s unbelievable.”

The 36-year-old company claims manager, of Glentworth Gardens, Dunstall, has since been arrested and bailed in connection with the missing box.

Catherine Hickman of West Midlands Police, said: “Police investigating a case of suspected fraud arrested a man and two women in Wolverhampton.

“The 36-year-old man, and the two women, aged 22 and 30, were arrested on suspicion of fraud and are currently on police bail pending further inquiries.”

Julia Husband, Barclays’ head of corporate affairs for the south west, said: “We are investigating this as a matter of urgency.”