A British mother is being held by French police on suspicion of suffocating her five-month-old baby while on holiday, reports Daily Mail.

The child was found dead by police on Saturday morning after being called to a gite holiday home in Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle, a village in the Basque province of Labourd.

The woman, who is in her 30s but not identified, was with her husband and another child, aged three, but the baby was lying lifeless in a bed.

The custody period was extended on Saturday morning, as the mother was held to answer further questions from detectives.

Saturday was the last day of the family's week long holiday, and they were due to return to the UK this weekend.

All were sleeping in a single bedroom in the gite, and the mother is thought to have got up at around 9am on Saturday.

This was when the husband inspected the bed, and found his child was dead.

He immediately called the emergency services.

A coroner visited the property in Rue Karrikartea Karrika, and found that the baby's death was not a natural one, and was almost certainly caused by suffocation.

An autopsy will be performed early next week.

The criminal investigation is being led by the Bayonne prosecutor, along with officers from the city's judicial police.

The entire family is expected to remain in France, at least during the early stages of the inquiry.