The home of Lord Janner has been searched by police in connection with allegations of historic child abuse.

Leicestershire Police searched a property owned by the former Board of Deputies president in the London borough of Barnet as "part of an ongoing criminal inquiry".

Officers spent two days at the apartment in north-west London earlier this week. Lord Janner has not been arrested or interviewed.

In a statement the peer's lawyer said the 85-year-old was helping police with their inquiries.

Greville Janner QC, Lord Janner of Braunstone, was Labour MP for Leicester West for 27 years before stepping down in 1997. The father-of-three is founding patron of the Holocaust Education Trust.

He has held a number of leading positions on groups serving world Jewry.

Lord Janner is president of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism and the joint founder of the Political Council for Coexistence, a project established in 2005 seeking to further Muslim-Jewish relations.

The Cardiff-born peer is the author of more than 60 books, mainly on employment and industrial relations law, presentational skills and public speaking.