Woman sectioned over child deaths

The bodies of the children were found in Melfort Road in Croydon

A woman has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act after the bodies of two children were found in a house.

The woman and a 62-year-old man were arrested on Saturday after reports of an incident involving them and a girl aged three in a street in south London.

Inquiries led police to the house in Melfort Road, Thornton Heath, where the bodies of a boy and a girl were found.

The man was released on police bail and the three-year-old girl, who received hospital treatment, taken into care.

Forensic experts were continuing to search the property where the bodies were found.

'Tragic' case

The deaths, of the boy aged under six and a girl aged under six months, are being treated as suspicious.

A bus driver reported the initial incident involving the adults and the girl in the Brigstock Road area.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers were told the girl was being given an alcoholic drink.

Police have not confirmed if either the man or the woman was related to any of the children involved.

Supt Chris Boulet, of Croydon Police, said: "Clearly this is a tragic set of circumstances.

"We are doing our best to investigate what has happened here."