Two children died today in a house fire, police said.

The blaze happened about 2am at a home in Charlbury Road, in the Pallister Park area of Middlesbrough, where the children were being looked after by teenage babysitters.

Cleveland Police named the youngsters as three-year-old Caitlin Marie Scully and one-year-old Joseph Brian Robert Sands.

A 19-year-old neighbour, who regularly visited the house, described the toddlers as happy children.

She said: "Everyone is devastated around here about the kids. I used to go over there all the time and they were always happy. Caitlin used to play out front."

The parents, Robert Sands and Marie, both in their twenties, had lived in the street for two years and were unmarried.

They were today said to be with relatives trying to come to terms with the loss of the children.

At the time of the fire Marie was working at the Royal Exchange nightclub in Middlesbrough where she is a door supervisor and Mr Sands was reported to be at his father's home in Derby.

The unnamed neighbour said: "She was taken straight to the hospital and his dad brought him home. People here are very shocked and our thoughts are with the parents who kept themselves to themselves."

Neighbour Simon Mallory ran into the house to try to rescue the children, who were in an upstairs bedroom, but was beaten back by the smoke.

The two 13-year-old babysitters, who were downstairs at the time of the fire, managed to escape.

The 19-year-old neighbour said Mr Mallory had done his best to save the children, adding: "He said the smoke coming out of the bedroom was unbelievable."

Police and fire investigators were trying to establish the cause of the fire, which they were not treating as suspicious.

Assistant divisional fire officer Alan Gill said firefighters wearing breathing apparatus had battled thick smoke.

"There was no visibility the smoke was that dense.

"To have this loss of life is absolutely tragic, our thoughts and prayers are with the family," he said.