A British father, mother and grandmother were shot dead and a seven-year-old violently beaten as her four-year-old sister hid under her family's dead bodies in the car during a camping holiday in the French Alps.

The man killed in the shooting spree, which is so far unexplained, has been named as Baghdad-born Saad El Hilli, 50, by AFP. The family are believed to live in Claygate, Surrey.

A four-year-old girl was found alive inside the car containing the bodies of those believed to be her father, mother and grandmother. A seven-year-old, believed to be her sister, lay badly beaten in the road.

Officers said the two girls were now under "extremely high protection".

Investigators discovered the unharmed girl among the dead bodies after being called to the massacre in the Haute-Savoie region. It was not until police linked the car to the campsite that officers discovered there were two children in the group. Witnesses told police that they had seen the family with two children, not one.

This information was relayed to police at the scene who spotted movement in the vehicle at around midnight.

The elder girl, seven, was discovered lying on the road in a critical condition near the BMW people carrier while a male cyclist, named locally as Sylvain Mollier, suffered gunshot wounds and was found dead close by.

Benoit Vinnemann, who is leading the investigation, told the BBC: "The three bodies found in the car appear to be the father, mother and grandmother.