LONDON 

Three people have been arrested in East of England on suspicion of spying on behalf of Russia, police said on Thursday.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said the suspects, a 41-year-old man, and a 35-year-old woman were arrested at an address in Grays, Essex.

The third suspect, a 46-year-old man, was arrested at a separate address, also in the Grays area of Essex as part of Counter Terrorism Policing investigation into suspected National Security Act offences, which is being led by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.

"All three were arrested on Wednesday, 17 September on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act (NSA), 2023 and they were taken to a police station in London," said the police.

The statement added that the country to "which the allegations relate is Russia."

All three suspects have since been released on conditional bail, while the investigation remains ongoing.

"Through our recent national security casework, we're seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as 'proxies' being recruited by foreign intelligence services," Dominic Murphy, head of the Counter Terrorism Command, said in the statement.