France murders: Man detained after woman and four children found dead in Meaux

The bodies were discovered in an apartment on Christmas Day

The Versailles judicial police service opened an inquiry into 'premeditated murder'. EPA

Police have detained the partner of a woman who was found dead along with her four children in an apartment in France.

The woman, 35, and her children 10, seven, four and nine-months-old, were found in the apartment in Meaux, near the outskirts of Paris, on Christmas Day after relatives contacted authorities, a local prosecutor has said.

A police source said a man, 33, was apprehended in the town of Sevran, about 30km west of Meaux, on suspicion of murder.

“The flat showed no sign of breaking and entering, and the father was absent,” said the local prosecutor, Jean-Baptiste Bladier.

A source said the mother and her children were killed with “a cold weapon”, a term usually used to refer to a knife.

The Versailles judicial police service opened an inquiry into “premeditated murder”.

In late November, a man, 41, confessed to killing his three daughters, aged four to 11.

Police found them dead in his home in the town of Alfortville, in the south-eastern suburbs of the capital.

A month earlier, a police officer killed his three daughters before killing himself at his home in Vemars, north-east of the capital.

On average, a woman is killed every three days in France. About 118 women were killed by their partner or former partner in France last year.