Dutch police say they have arrested the man they want to question in connection with the death of four people at a house in the Brabant town of Etten-Leur.

The 33-year-old man was arrested after being spotted by passersby walking along the A58 in the town itself, police said in a statement.

A woman, grandmother and two small children, thought to be girls aged two and six, were found dead in the terraced house in the village near Breda on Saturday. The father was not at home.

As yet police have said nothing about the cause of death, but denied reports that the next door neighbour had alerted the emergency services because of a ‘terrible smell’.