Spanish police have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of creating and spreading a virus that affected more than 115,000 top-of-the-range mobile phones.

The man was arrested in Valencia following an investigation that lasted over seven months.

It is the first time that the creator of a virus that targets mobile phones has been arrested in Spain.

The man is accused of creating and spreading over 20 different variants of the Cabir and Commwarrior worms, which attempt to infect mobile phones running the Symbian operating system and were disguised as messages claiming to contain erotic images, sports information or virus protection software.

The virus caused millions of euros in damage to both the owners of the mobile phones as well as to mobile services providers, according to a police statement.

'Mobile phone viruses are not nearly as common as the malware that strikes Windows desktops on a regular basis, but they are just as illegal in their intent.  Viruses cause real harm disrupting business and personal communications as well as destroying and stealing sensitive data,' said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for security vendor Sophos.