Runaway teacher Jeremy Forrest expected back in UK today

Jeremy Forrest is understood to have been escorted to a French airport for a flight home (Getty Images)

Runaway teacher Jeremy Forrest is expected back in the UK today after going on the run with his 15-year-old pupil Megan Stammers.

The 30-year-old married amateur musician, from Ringmer, East Sussex, is understood to have been escorted to a French airport for a flight home.

The teacher disappeared with Megan on September 20, sparking a Europe-wide search for the pair and prompting public appeals from both sets of families.

They were eventually found in Bordeaux and Forrest was arrested on suspicion of child abduction following the issuing of a European Arrest Warrant.

Forrest, a teacher at Bishop Bell C of E school in Eastbourne, appeared before magistrates in the French city last week. His solicitor Phil Smith has said his client looks forward to the "full story" emerging in the coming months.

Megan was reported missing when she failed to turn up for school and it emerged she had travelled to France with Forrest.

The pair were spotted on CCTV cameras on a cross-Channel ferry from Dover to Calais and later tracked to Bordeaux where they were recognised by a member of the public who had seen television coverage of the case.

He touted a bogus CV around bars in the city as he sought cash-in-hand work.

Before her disappearance, the schoolgirl told her mother that she was going to spend the night at a friend's house.

Her mother said she was "really excitable" and was "jumping around". A message was later sent to one of her friends saying she had arrived safely in France.

The investigation was ramped up when she and Forrest failed to use return ferry tickets on September 23.

A European Arrest Warrant was issued and the case featured on BBC's Crimewatch.

PA