INVESTIGATIONS are continuing into the cause of a house fire which claimed the lives of a mother and two of her sons.

Shamoon Nabeel, four, his three-year-old brother Aysan and their 25-year-old mother, Sadia, died in the fire, despite attempts by their father, Nabeel Maqsood, to rescue them.

He managed to save his eldest son, Hamza, five, after flames swept through the family's end-of-terrace home in Russell Street, Stockton, on Saturday afternoon.

It is thought that a number of cushions and cuddly toys in the downstairs room, where the blaze began, may have contributed to the fire catching hold so quickly.

Sadia had just bathed the children, before planning to set out on a trip into town.

It appears that she rushed back into the bathroom with her two youngest sons when she found their escape down the staircase cut off.

Ian Waugh, spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive, said: "Police contacted us on Saturday afternoon for assistance in their investigations.

"The Health and Safety Executive has been assisting and looking at, in particular, a gas fire being involved."

The children's grandmother, Hamida Nabeel, revealed at the weekend that one of the children may have been playing with lighted paper downstairs.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: "Investigations are still ongoing into the cause of the blaze."