A BBC actress is locked in a bitter custody dispute with her ex-partner after he accused her of abducting their child from Australia

A BBC actress is locked in a bitter international custody dispute with her ex-partner after he accused her of abducting their child from Australia.

She is said to have fled the country shortly after messaging him to say: 'I know everything', despite allegedly agreeing to start a new life in Sydney.

The star will now appear at the Family Division of the High Court in London to plead her case.

She and her former partner, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met while filming a television show in Africa and had a child in Britain three years later, according to The Times.

The father, a documentary maker, claims that when his ex-partner was pregnant she agreed to apply for Australian citizenship and start a family life on the other side of the world.

The BBC star later resigned from the corporation and moved to Australia, court documents say, before allegedly disappearing four days later.

She reportedly sent the father of her child a cryptic message reading: 'I know everything' and when he contacted police he found she had left the country.

The documentary maker is trying to have his access to the child restored with the help of the 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction.

He claims that the pair's agreement to permanently move to Australia meant the child was legally habitually resident there.

The star will now appear at the Family Division of the High Court in London to plead her case

The father also says that last year he found out the BBC star was having an affair with another man but they agreed to continue their relationship.

He claims that since she returned to London he has had only 11 hours of meetings with his child.

The BBC actress claims that she was visiting Sydney on an extended holiday and had already booked a return flight.

Legal decisions on the custody of a child are decided by a court in a country where the child is considered to be legally habitually resident, according to the Hague Convention.