Six British children have been cared for in Austria after they were discovered living in an abandoned cellar with their parents.
Police said their father, a 54-year-old Austrian, was a member of the far-right Reichsburger movement and a prominent Holocaust denier.
Social services were called to the Obritz residence, near the Czech border, as the locals were concerned about the children’s welfare.
But when they tried to get inside, the father attacked them with pepper spray.
Police were called and the man was arrested. He was released on bail when an investigation was made.
The children – aged seven months to five years – were taken with their mothers to the hospital for check-ups.
Police spokesman Stefan Loidl said they were “in good health and not abandoned”.
The children are currently in the care of social services.
Local authorities say they believe the family has been living in the illegal hideout for several months but there have been complaints about them in the past few weeks.
Erich Greil, deputy mayor of Orbritz, said: “The surveillance cameras in front of the basement are particularly annoying and people sometimes hear children in the basement and as soon as they get close everything goes silent. “
Police said there was no indication that children were sexually abused in the cellar.
Mr Loidl added that a “long gun, two crossbows and some compressed air weapons” were found in the vault.
