The mother of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews said on Saturday she was overwhelmed at being reunited with her daughter and "just couldn't stop crying."

Detectives are trying to find out what happened to the girl between her disappearance from the gates of her school in Dewsbury and her dramatic rescue 24 days later.

She was discovered in the base of a bed at a flat in the area after police smashed their way in on Friday. A 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of abduction.

Police said the schoolgirl had spent a "comfortable and settled night and is starting on the road to recovery following her ordeal".

She spent the night watching DVDs and has been playing with a kitten.

Her mother Karen Matthews said "When I first saw Shannon again I was overwhelmed. I just couldn't stop crying, knowing she's back where she belongs and she's safe."

"I never gave up hope and now she'll be able to come home and sleep in her room again. We've got her new pink bedding which she will love," she added.

Shannon's father Leon Rose was equally overjoyed, saying "I am buzzing over it, especially since Shannon has been found alive. I'm over the moon."

Matthews had been missing for nearly four weeks, sparking a massive police search which involved about 10 percent of the West Yorkshire police force.

Detectives said they will begin to talk to Matthews, who is the subject of an emergency police protection order, following medical checks.

"The interviews may be a long process but throughout this enquiry our main focus has been and continues to be Shannon's welfare," police said in a statement.

The order will remain in place until police have "had time to establish the full facts of what happened in the time since her disappearance".

Matthews was found after detectives broke down the door of the house a mile from her family home in Dewsbury.

Neighbours said the girl appeared "quite calm" when she emerged from the house in Batley Carr.

Locals later ripped up "Missing Shannon" posters and threw them in the air like confetti in celebration of her safe return.

Matthews had gone missing on February 19 after a swimming trip, prompting one of the biggest investigations in the area since the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry of the late 1970s.