A man and a woman in their 40s have been arrested at Heathrow Airport in connection with female genital mutilation (FGM) offences.

The woman aged 49 was arrested after landing at the airport on a flight from Nairobi, Kenya, just before 5am on Wednesday (March 9).

She was accompanied by an eight-year-old girl who has been taken into protective care, the Metropolitan Police said.

A 45-year-old man was also arrested at the airport but he was not on the flight.

READ MORE:March planned as London's only under-18s FGM clinic closes.

The arrests were made by officers from the Camberwell Child Abuse Investigation Team of a FGM Prevention Order.

The pair were taken into custody at a south London police station where they were being questioned on suspicion of assisting a non-UK person to carry out FGM overseas.

Concerns were raised by a school in south London after they reported one of their pupils failed to attend school and was believed to have been taken to Somalia.

READ MORE:Hounslow stands up to female genital mutilation.

FGM sometimes referred to as female circumcision is when female genital organs are altered or cause injury by being partly or fully removed for non-medical reasons. The practice is illegal in the UK.

Last year, getwestlondon reported there were more than 750 cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) across London in the space of three months.