Two young friends are believed to have perished together in a blazing barn.

David Greenyer and Jonathan Mahoney, both 14, had built a den in the centre of a 500-ton stack of hay bales.

Somehow, the barn was set alight while they were inside, trapped and unable to escape.

Within minutes it was a raging inferno that could be seen from five miles away.

Firefighters had been at the scene 45 minutes before they were told the boys were missing.

David's mother, Michelle, knew the boys had been playing in the barn earlier in the day and feared they had set it alight and run away.

But the following morning, human remains were discovered, pointing to a truth that was much worse.

Detectives said the two sets of remains were so badly burned that they would have to be identified by DNA.

The blaze, on Saturday night, wrecked the barn at Buckton Farm, Buckton, near Belford, in Northumberland.

David lived with his father, Terry, a garage boss, mother and brother, Andrew, an 18-year-old music student, in a cottage next to the farm.

Detective Superintendent Steve Wade, who is leading inquiries into the tragedy, said: "Mr and Mrs Greenyer had been to Berwick to pick up their oldest son from work and, on their return, noticed what they thought were fireworks coming from the farm.

"Mr Greenyer went to investigate and realised that the barn was on fire. He called to his wife to call the fire brigade.

"At this stage they were understandably quite traumatised because they didn't know where the boys were.

"The following morning, after the barn had burnt itself out, the fire service were working through the bales of hay and found what they suspect to be human remains, and notified the police."

He added: "Because of the intensity of the fire there are very little of the remains left."

The two boys were good friends who loved the outdoor life. They were bright and popular at school.

David was a keen golfer while Jonathan, known as Jon, was a cadet who had ambitions to be an RAF pilot.

Det Supt Wade said: "Our inquiries are at a very early stages but there is no evidence to suggest how the fire may have started. I have no reason to suspect the remains are not those of the two boys."