A British couple with four children who were believed to be heading for Syria have been arrested in Turkey.

A Turkish official said that Asif Malik and his partner, Sara Kiran, were arrested in Ankara on Monday.

The family, from Slough, Berkshire, were reported missing on 16 April.

Their four children were also taken into custody.

On Sunday, British police appealed for information about the family who have not been seen in England for around two weeks.

British authorities said they had no reason to believe the family would take part in any fighting in Syria.

They said it was not clear whether they were sympathetic to Islamic State (IS) or the regime of Bashar al Assad.

The Turkish official, however, said authorities there believe the family was aiming to go to territory controlled by IS.

Hundreds of Europeans are thought to travelled to the Middle East to join Islamic State, which aims to impose a strict form of Islam on territory it has seized in Syria and Iraq.

Police released a new CCTV image on Monday of the family preparing to board a ferry from Dover to Calais on 8 April.

With their parents were their seven-year-old daughter and three sons aged four, two and one.

Police believe they then travelled south through Europe, possibly by train, including through Budapest in Hungary, on or around 12 April.

The official said that British authorities provided information to Turkish counterparts on Sunday and that police were able to track the family from the Greek border, which they crossed by bus on 16 April.

British police said they were working with Turkish authorities.

Relatives of the family had released a statement through police urging the family to return home.

The statement said: "With the reality that our loved one Asif Malik and his family have left the UK without any notice, our lives have been completely devastated.

"The greatest sadness is the decision by Asif and Sara to travel with their young family, such beautiful children.

"Please Asif, we ask you to think about what has happened and the decisions you have made."

Police have revealed Mr Malik had previously told wider family "he would like to live in a Muslim country".

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are urgently looking into reports that six British nationals have been arrested in Turkey. We stand ready to provide consular assistance."