A 45-year-old man is to appear in court charged with murdering his former partner and her son at the Banbury home they shared.

The bodies of 43-year-old Sally Cox and 22-year-old Martin Faulkner were discovered in a "horrific scene" at the house in Banbury, early on Monday.

Michael Kelly, of Hatch Road, Swindon, was arrested by police hours after the bodies were found in Mold Crescent, and will appear before magistrates this morning, Thames Valley Police said.

Kelly was charged with two counts of murder and one count of assault, Thames Valley Police said. He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Banbury Magistrates' Court.

Two teenagers, thought to be Mrs Cox's daughters Amy, 19, and 13-year-old Katie, were in the house at the time but managed to escape.

The older girl was badly injured and was said to be in a serious but stable condition at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, while the younger of the two was "severely traumatised" but had no physical injuries.

Neighbours said the victims were killed with an axe. A post-mortem examination on Mrs Cox revealed she died of multiple head injuries caused by a "heavy bladed instrument", a spokesman for the police force said.

Results of her son's post-mortem examination are yet to be revealed.

Officers who went to the house were confronted by a "horrific scene", with two people "obviously dead or very close to death", Detective Inspector Steve Duffy said.

He added: "All I can confirm is their injuries are consistent with blunt trauma and I can't say if an axe was used, but a firearm was not used."

Mrs Cox and her family are believed to have lived in their house for a year.