Two children have died and their mother is in hospital after a serious house fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The 30-year-old mother of the children, who are aged eight and 10, was taken to hospital. She is in a critical condition.

A 21-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident which happened at 12.45am in Bradford, West Yorks.

West Yorkshire Police said investigations had begun to establish the cause of the fire and have appealed for witnesses who saw anyone buying small amounts of petrol on Monday night.

Neighbours told how the hysterical mother of the young children had to be stopped from re-entering the blazing building to rescue her youngsters after suffering terrible injuries which burnt her clothes off.

Next door neighbour Zainab Maqsood, 17, said she ran outside to see nearby residents rolling the woman on the grass.

The mother kept screaming for her children and trying to get up off the grass - despite her horrific injuries and the efforts of neighbours to calm her down.