Three children die as midnight blaze engulfs family home

Three young children have died in a house fire that left their mother fighting for her life.

Fire crews were called to the seaside property shortly before midnight after neighbours saw flames engulfing it.

The siblings aged three, five and nine, were pulled out from the top floor. Paramedics and neighbours in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, desperately tried to resuscitate them but they were pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

The children's 27-year-old mother, named locally as Susan Hudson, was taken to hospital in Scarborough, where she was in a critical condition.

A joint police and fire investigation has been launched but the blaze is not being treated as suspicious. It is thought to have started in the living room.

A neighbour, who is a nurse, told how she tried to revive one of the children, a boy, for almost an hour.

She said: "I've never worked on a child before, only adults. It was absolutely dreadful. They hadn't been here very long."

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said emergency crews arrived at the cul-de-sac at 11.58pm last night.

The three-storey terrace property was cordoned off this morning as forensic experts examined the scene. Neighbour Edith Dawson, 86, said she watched as "fierce" flames tore through the home. "It's heart-breaking. I had seen the children playing in their grandmother's back yard.

"They hadn't been in the house all that long, probably no more than six months

"It was terrible, with the wind as well, it was so fierce. There were flames coming from the top and you couldn't see for the smoke."

Another neighbour, who did not give her name, broke down in tears this morning.

She said: "I have spoken to the children quite often. They were lovely."