A family who lost two boys in a house fire are being offered support from their football club.

One of the boys, Carl Taylor, died hours after celebrating his seventh birthday with friends, on June 18, when a blaze destroyed his bedroom at his grandparents' home, in Spennymoor, County Durham.

Rescuers snatched his four-year-old stepbrother, Stephen Peel, from the from the smoke-filled first floor of the house, but he had suffered horrific burns and died in early August, in Newcastle General Hospital.

The boys and their three-year-old half-sister, Lauren Wilkinson, lived with mother Tracey Taylor's parents, John and Christine, in Wood Vue.

Later this month, Spennymoor FC - where John is a member of the social club's pool team - is launching a fundraising drive which could involve some the North-East's top players.

Ex-Sunderland striker Eric Gates is organising celebrity teams for a match at Spennymoor's Brewery Field ground.

And a charity show in the clubhouse, on Friday, October 19, features duo 2Gether.

Tickets for the show cost £2 and are available from the social club, or any committee member.

Anyone wanting to support the fund can contact Barrie Hindmarch at the clubhouse after 7pm most nights, telephone (01388) 814100.