One of the buildings at the Chetham's School of Music in Manchester
The Chetham's School of Music in Manchester

A 57-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of rape following an investigation into historical sexual abuse at the Chetham's School of Music in Manchester.

The man, reported to be a violin teacher, was arrested at his home in Cheshire and remains in police custody.

He was arrested as part of an investigation into historical sexual abuse at the school involving a "relatively small" number of teachers.

The investigation was launched following the conviction of Chetham's School of Music choirmaster Michael Brewer, who was found guilty of indecently assaulting former pupil Frances Andrade when she was 15 more than 30 years ago.

His ex-wife, Hilary, known by her middle name Kay, was also found guilty of one count of indecently assaulting Andrade, who committed suicide after giving evidence at the trial.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "We understand the need for as much transparency as possible so what we can say is this investigation is looking into more than 20 individual reports of sexual offences reported by former pupils at the school.

"In relation to allegations made, we have today arrested a 57-year-old man from Cheshire on suspicion of committing rape. This also relates to historic offences and he will be interviewed later today by detectives.

"These are historic offences which involved a relatively small number of teachers."

Following the launch of the investigation, the Manchester school said it was "assisting the police in whatever way we can".

The school added in a statement: "While this investigation is ongoing, we have been advised by the police that we should not comment any further on the allegations or commission a separate inquiry."