TWO sisters snatched at knifepoint by their distraught mother were back at home last night after being found safe and well a mile from where they were abducted.

The children, Salina, five, and three-year-old Sarah, were discovered asleep in a house in Middlesbrough after Cleveland Police raided the address following a nationwide hunt.

The screaming girls were abducted on Wednesday afternoon and had been missing for 33 hours after Shanaz Hafeez held a knife to a foster carer and bundled them into a car in Cornfield Road.

The car used in the abduction was traced following a tip-off by a Middlesbrough resident.

It led police to raid a house in Acton Street at about midnight on Thursday, where the children were found asleep in a bedroom with their mother.

The 29-year-old was arrested along with two other people at the address on suspicion of abduction.

A next-door neighbour said he had heard children running up and down the stairs of the property, but thought his Asian neighbour had visitors.

The neighbour said: "I did not know anything like this had happened.

"He lived on his own, there were not usually children there. They sounded fine, they were not crying or distressed.

"He seemed a nice, young man. I've spoken to him a few times. He kept himself to himself really."

Police said four other adults were arrested at addresses across the town and it appeared from initial inquiries the children had been moved around a number of properties.

It is believed all those arrested are relatives and friends of the birth mother.

Detective Superintendent Tony Hutchinson, who led the investigation, said he was relieved and overjoyed that the children had been found safe and well. He said: "To use the word ecstatic is an understatement.

"We were concerned about the girls and are extremely glad they have been found."

Detectives forced entry to the house and found the girls sleeping side by side. They remained asleep until their foster mother could be taken to the house.

In a statement issued by police, the foster mother, who has looked after the children for 15 months, said: "It has been traumatic for us. I haven't been able to sleep but now the children are back, I'm sure we can soon get back to our normal routine."

Four men, two aged 29, a 34-year-old and one aged 44, and three women, aged 29, 30 and 31, were still being questioned at police stations in Middlesbrough and Stockton last night