COPS have been granted an extension to continue questioning a dad arrested over the suspected abduction of university student Libby Squire.

The extension to quiz Polish butcher Pawel Relowicz, 24, was granted by a senior cop shortly before 9pm last night but will expire later today.

Detectives have already applied to magistrates to extend that even further. They can hold the dad-of-two for up to 96 hours.

Yesterday, Pawel Relowicz, 24, was arrested at the home he shares with his wife in Hull – half a mile from where Libby vanished on Thursday night last week.

But the Polish dad of two's family has claimed he would have offered to give Libby a lift home when he spotted her in a distressed state just after midnight.

Paulina Szymanska told The Telegraph: "I don't believe my brother could do it. We were raised to be good people.

“He was driving and he stopped because he noticed a girl crying.

"She asked him to take her home, so he put her address into his sat nav and wanted to do just that.

“Apparently she threw herself at him, but he pushed her away because he is a married man."

Officers arrested Relowicz, 24, after swooping on the property at 9pm on Wednesday.

His home was sealed off and a silver Vauxhall Astra — believed to belong to him — had been towed away.

Forensics experts spent all day at the rented two-bed terraced home in Hull, East Yorks.

Evidence bags were removed by plain-clothes detectives.

Members of Relowicz’s family in Poland told The Sun of their shock at news of his arrest. His sister Paulina Szymanska, 28, said: “I can’t believe it and I hope it’s a bad dream.

“We come from big, poor, but wonderful family. Our parents raised us to be good, hard-working people.

“He could never do such a thing. I really hope police will find this poor girl and that it’s a big misunderstanding.”

As part of the search for Libby, police divers have been called in to search nearby lakes while officers have scoured rubbish bins and parks.

It comes after the student's mum Lisa Squire last night shared an emotional post, saying: "One week without her", including two crying face emojis.

The 21-year-old philosophy student was reportedly "falling over drunk", two of the last people to see her say.

Libby was uneasy on her feet, "mumbling incomprehensibly" and fell over two or three times, the witnesses said.

And fears for Libby's safety escalated when a local reported hearing "blood-curdling screams" the night she disappeared.

Sources said police acted after receiving information that led them to believe Libby may have been abducted on a street near her home.

Officers insisted they were still treating her disappearance as a missing persons inquiry.

The last confirmed sighting of Libby was CCTV footage of her on a park bench at 11.45pm.

Libby's parents Lisa and Russell have previously released a heartrending appeal for information, begging anyone with information to come forward.

A Humberside Police spokesperson said: "Libby’s parents have been informed of the man’s arrest and we’re continuing to support them at this difficult time."