POLICE called to a house by worried neighbours discovered two naked children locked in an attic, a court heard.

It was later discovered that the screaming children had been shut in there for almost 19 hours, after their mother had gone out to work at a pizza restaurant and a teenage boy staying at the house fell asleep on a settee downstairs.

The mother of the two children was put on probation for three years yesterday, but warned she had only escaped prison for the sake of her children.

Judge Leslie Spittle, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, told her: "It's not a case where the three of you were living in the lap of luxury and the children left locked away. You were all living in squalor.

"You were totally inadequate and incapable of caring for yourselves, let alone the children. Under normal circumstances, this would result in immediate custody, but my concern is what is best for the children.

"I don't think it is in the public interest if you are deprived of your liberty at this time."

The court heard how the children were regularly locked in the attic of the rented house in Hartlepool, where they lived with their 23-year-old mother, another 21-year-old woman and the teenage boy, who regularly slept there.

Following the discovery, in February, all three were arrested and later admitted cruelty to a child.

None of them can be identified under the provisions of a Section 39 order of the Children and Young Persons Act.

The court was told that the children's mother had gone to work leaving the youth, then aged 16, and the woman, 21, in the house.

The woman had gone out, leaving the teenager in charge of the children, and after both the mother and the other woman eventually returned they all played on a computer before falling asleep, leaving the children upstairs.

Next day, police were called by a neighbour, worried about the cries of the children, and discovered them still in the attic.

Ian West, prosecuting, said: "The neighbour could hear crying in the attic which was constant and went on all night."

Stephen Lancaster, for the mother, told the court that problems started after she moved from her home to the rented property.

He said: "She is deeply ashamed about this. What went wrong went wrong in a short space of time in that particular environment.

"It's not a case where she is an incapable mother, but it seems she failed over a short period."

The teenager, now 17, was put on probation for 18 months and the 21-year-old woman put on probation for two years.