An inmate who had escaped from the Athalassa psychiatric hospital in the early morning hours on Tuesday was found later in the day, police said.

The 52-year-old man was located around 8pm.

He had escaped from the state mental hospital in Nicosia at around 3.30am, together with a 20-year-old man who was captured soon after.

Police clarified the two had not been held there in police custody.

The older suspect is an inmate in the central prisons and was hospitalised at the Athalassa hospital under a court order.