The partner of Tia Sharp’s grandmother has been charged with murdering the 12-year-old, Met Police have said.

Tia was reported missing on 3 August, having last been seen at the home of her grandmother Christine Sharp, 46, in New Addington, Croydon.

On Friday police found a body at Mrs Sharp’s house.

Stuart Hazell, 37, was arrested that evening in Merton, south London. He has been charged with Tia’s murder and will appear before magistrates on Monday.

Although police await formal identification of the body found on Friday, the victim is named in the murder charge as Tia.

Christine Sharp, who was arrested on suspicion of murder, and a 39-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender have both been bailed to return to a south London police station.

On Saturday Scotland Yard apologised to Tia’s mother, Natalie, from Mitcham in Surrey, over the time it took to find the body at Ms Sharp’s house, blaming “human error”.

The body was discovered after three earlier searches