The couple who allegedly held three women for more than 30 years were leaders of an extremist Maoist collective, it has been claimed.

A senior council source confirmed that Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife Chanda were arrested last week by police amid allegations they held three women for more than 30 years.

The alleged victims - a Briton, 30, an Irishwoman, 57, and a Malaysian, 69 - are believed to have suffered years of "physical and mental abuse" at the hands of the pair.

House-to-house inquiries have been carried out in Peckford Place, Brixton, south London, where the three women were found, and police have confirmed that there are ongoing inquiries relating to a total of 13 addresses, all in the capital, linked to the couple.

The couple, aged 73 and 67, set up a communist squat in Acre Lane, Brixton in 1976.

They have been bailed until a date in January.