Police find children alone at home

POLICE have questioned the parents of two children who were left on their own at home while the couple went out for a drink with friends.

The children, aged five and eight, were heard screaming and shouting by neighbours in Teignmouth, Devon, who called the police.

The children were taken into care after it was discovered they had been alone in the flat for two hours. The parents were arrested when they returned home more than four hours later. The unmarried couple, in their early thrities, have not been named by police to protect the children's identity. The children are now with foster parents and the parents have been released on police bail.

A case conference of doctors and social workers will be held to decide the future of the children and a file on the parents will be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.