Two children die and mother suffers life-changing injuries in house fire

Police said it is believed the fire broke out at the three-storey house in Buttercup Avenue, Eynesbury.

Cambridgeshire Police said a three-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl were pronounced dead at the scene.

Their 35-year-old mother was taken to hospital with life-changing injuries and her partner, a 46-year-old man, suffered minor injuries.

Police said: “The cause of the fire is yet to be established, however police are working with fire investigators to get to the route of the blaze.”

Police and fire service officers are continuing their investigations at the property on Friday, and floral tributes have begun to pile up on a verge near the house.

Windows on the terraced home’s second and third floors are completely burnt-out with the rooms inside blackened and guttering melted away.

The house is on a modern estate near St Neots, with many homes decorated for Christmas – including a festive wreath on one immediate neighbour’s door.

Neighbour Charles Cooper, 30, said: “The flames went up fairly swiftly. By the time my wife and I woke up the firefighters had already arrived.

“It took a good three or four hours before the smoke abated. The flames were coming out of the top window.”

He added: “I’ve seen the children playing in the garden.”