A man arrested by police looking for a suspected thief with an amazing resemblance to Friends actor David Schwimmer has been identified as living in Slough.

Abdulah Husseni, 36, of Spencer Road, Slough, must now appear at Blackpool Magistrates' Court on December 18 accused of theft and fraud Lancashire Police have revealed.

Social media users first pointed out the likeness to Schwimmer's character Ross Geller in the popular US sitcom when police in Blackpool posted an image of a man leaving a restaurant and carrying what appeared to be a carton of beer cans.

Mr Schwimmer later responded to the picture by posting a video to his Twitter account that showed him scurrying through a convenience store carrying a carton of beer before looking up furtively at a CCTV camera.

He captioned the video: "Officers, I swear it wasn't me. As you can see, I was in New York.

"To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation."

He added the hashtag #itwasntme to the post.

Husseni is accused of stealing a coat, a phone and a wallet from a restaurant in Blackpool on September 20.

On Monday Lancashire Police tweeted: "Abdulah Husseini, 36, of Spencer Road, Slough, has been summonsed to appear at Blackpool Mags on 18 Dec accused of theft & fraud after items were stolen from Mr Basrai's restaurant, Blackpool on Sept 20th. Our appeal was shared internationally. Thx for your support."