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(Image: TSelander/MailOnSunday/SoloSynd)

The Met Police detectives were snapped putting their feet up at a plush four-star hotel – just hours after the force was slammed for its handling of the case.

Officers were blasted in court for blunders that could have held up the extradition of former EastEnders' star Ms Blake's partner, Arthur Simpson-Kent.

But the intense criticism didn't stop Brit cops Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Gwyn and Detective Constable Paul Lapthorn taking time out at the £227-a-night Golden Tulip Hotel in Ghana's capital, Accra.

(Image: TSelander/MailOnSunday/SoloSynd) (Image: PA)

Scotland Yard has come under fire for a three-week delay in digging up the garden of the family home in Erith, Kent, where their bodies were unearthed.

Simpson–Kent, 48, was eventually tracked down near a beach last week after locals tipped off Ghanaian police.

It piles further pressure on the Met with a probe from the Independent Police Complaints Commission looming into their handling of the investigation.

Simpson-Kent sparked a police manhunt after fleeing Britain and jetting to the African country on December 19.

He is accused of killing Ms Blake, 43, and sons Zachary, eight, and Amon, four, just days earlier between December 13 and 16.

Simpson-Kent appeared in court on Tuesday when prosecutors admitted extradition papers had not yet been drawn up because The Met was "taken by surprise at how quickly he was found", the Mail on Sunday reports.

And a defence lawyer claimed the suspect should walk because Scotland Yard detectives failed to bring a formal arrest warrant.

(Image: GOLDEN TULIP HOTEL) (Image: GOLDEN TULIP HOTEL)

A Met Police spokesperson told Daily Star Online the officers were "on downtime".

"When Met officers are required to travel overseas, they often work extremely long and unsocial hours," he said.

"Since officers working overseas are unable to return home outside of working hours, it is not unreasonable for them to make use of hotel facilities when there is time available to take a break."