Preparations were being made last night to fly back to the UK the body of a six-year-old boy killed when his father plunged from a hotel balcony in Greece.

John Hogan, 32, is facing a possible murder charge after his son, Liam, died and his daughter, Mia, two, was injured during the fall in Crete.

Hogan and his wife, Natasha, from Bradley Stoke, Bristol, had been staying at a holiday resort on the island when the tragedy happened last Tuesday.

Mrs Hogan, 34, and Mia returned to the UK on Friday m orning after the child was discharged from hospital foll owing treatment for a broken arm. Arrangements were made to return Liam's body to the UK, anticipated to take place last night.

Undertaker Hristos Papadopetrakis, who runs a funeral parlour with his father Petros in Rethymnon, Crete, confirmed Liam's body would return but refused to give any further details.

He said: "Yes, the body is coming back today. I'm sorry, but we have orders from the consulate here not to say anything to the press."

Liam's body was reportedly being flown into Gatwick. The Foreign Office declined to comment on the arrangements. A spokeswoman said: " We never comment on repatriations."

Mrs Hogan and Mia are being comforted by friends and family. An Avon and Somerset Police source said: "They need a bit of time by themselves to come to terms with what has happened."

Mrs Hogan and her daughter are staying somewhere in the Avon and Somerset area but their whereabouts have not been disclosed.

Police in Crete are waiting to question Hogan about the incident, but a Greek embassy spokesman said it could be days before he is fit enough to be interviewed as a result of the injuries he sustained in the fall.

Nikos Papaconstantinou said: "The doctors do not follow a police timetable. I don't think that they will allow police to speak to him before Tuesday.

"He fell off a balcony and you also have to consider the trauma in realising that his son is gone and the calamity of his actions.

"I'm sure it will take a few days before he is in a position to talk to the police."

Hogan is under police guard in hospital in the island's capital Heraklion after suffering a broken arm, leg and chest

injuries. The incident took place at the Petra Mare Hotel, a 227-bedroom four star beachfront establishment in Lerapetra.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said Hogan would be arrested on suspicion of the murder of his son and the attempted murder of Mia when he has recovered from his injuries.

Hogan, who runs a tiling business in Bristol, plunged from a fourth-floor balcony apparently after rowing with his wife.