Sian Blake’s partner has been charged with the murders of the ex-EastEnders actress and their two children, police have said.

Arthur Simpson-Kent, 48, was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers at Heathrow Airport after arriving on a flight from Ghana. He has been taken to a west London police station.

Ms Blake and her sons Zachary, eight, and four-year-old Amon vanished on December 13. Police launched a murder probe after her car was found abandoned in Bethnal Green on January 3.

The bodies of all three were found buried in the garden of their family home in south-east London two days later.

Simpson-Kent, Ms Blake’s boyfriend, returned to the UK after agreeing to be extradited from the African country. The hairdresser left the country days after the trio were reported missing.

Scotland Yard is being investigated by the police watchdog for the way it handled the missing persons inquiry and why it took more than three weeks to find the bodies of Ms Blake and her sons.

The back garden of the house was only thoroughly searched in early January after murder squad detectives were called in.

Ms Blake played Frankie Pierre in 56 episodes of EastEnders between 1996 and 1997. She was suffering from motor neurone disease before she died.