The British authorities have protested to the government in Yemen following the arrest of a BBC television crew.

A British Embassy spokesman in the capital, Sanaa, said the three men, including the BBC's regional correspondent, Rageh Omaar, remained in detention following their arrest on Tuesday.

The journalists had just returned from filming in a remote region of Yemen where a British family was recently kidnapped and held by local tribesmen for three weeks.

The embassy said it would continue efforts to free the journalists, but said they did not appear to have had government permission to visit the area.