A former Brockley resident being detained in Iran has been accused of trying to "overthrow the regime".

In the first explanation for her detainment Iranian authorities have accused her of being a "spy" and part of a "hostile network".

In a statement her employers, the Thomson Reuters foundation, confirmed authorities claimed she was “involved with foreign companies and networks in planning the overthrow of the Islamic regime in Iran through projects involving media and cyber networks”.

Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has dual Iranian-British nationality and lived in the Brockley area for several years, was detained in Iran on April 3 while trying to return to the UK.

She was not allowed to see her young daughter Gabriella for 38 days, and has been denied access to a lawyer and the Red Cross.

Gabriella only has British citizenship but has had her passport removed and remains in Iran with her grandparents.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is a project worker for Thompson Reuters foundation, lived in Tywhitt Road, Brockley for three years.

She stayed with Clare Cowen, of the Brockley Society, who said: "I have known Nazanin for 10 years, her mother stayed with us during a visit.

"We were at her wedding in 2009 and I attended her ceremony for British Citizenship."

News Shopper: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her family

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, started an online petition to free his wife, which currently has more than 700,000 signatures.

People who have signed the petition have left messages of support.

One supporter wrote: "She is a wonderful mother and daughter in law, who has never harmed anyone"

And another wrote: "Unfair and no evidence to prove she has done wrong, she needs to come home with her baby."