AN inquest will be held next week into the death of an Asian woman and her two children - a year after they were found dead in a burning car.

Firefighters were called when a Vauxhall Astra was set alight on Walpole Street in Middlesbrough at 4.30pm on January 9 last year.

They were horrified when they realised the bodies of Nabeala Hussain, 23, of Gresham Road, Middlesbrough, along with her children Danial, aged three, and 22-month-old Salia Mariam were inside.

At the time detectives said she may have started the fire in the passenger footwell, which resulted in all three dying of smoke inhalation.

But family members, including her Pakistan-born husband Pervez Aktar, 31, a factory worker, refused to believe the woman, described as a "happy smiler" would kill herself.

Officers were even more astounded when they found nearly £20,000 in used bank notes stashed in a laundry bag in the boot.

Despite public pleas for information, no reason has yet been established for the seemingly senseless deaths and the matter is now in the hands of the Teesside Coroner's Office.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said: "No criminal charges have been brought against anyone else and no one else was involved in the death of Nabeala Hussain.

"Police are not seeking anyone else regarding the death of her children.

"A coroner's inquest will be held next week and that will determine the circumstances surrounding the death of her children."

The inquest will be held on January 14. Her family are planning to mark the anniversary of her death with a quiet, traditional, religious service.