Teenage girls die in house blaze

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The girls, one believed to be aged 11 or 12 and the other 14, died at the house in Lisle Road, South Shields.

Fire crews alerted police to the tragedy shortly after 1am.

A 37-year-old man, who suffered serious burns, is in a critical condition at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Police said a woman, also 37, was being treated for less serious injuries at South Tyneside District Hospital.

The two schoolgirls who died in the fire were later named locally as 12-year-old Demi-Jade and her 14-year-old sister, Tatum, who lived with their parents, John and Anita Spence

An investigation is under way into the cause of the deaths and blaze.

The two girls were found dead in first and second floor rooms in the house.

A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said: "A police cordon has been placed around the property in order to assist the police and fire investigators into the cause of the fire."

Inspector Peter Sutton, of Northumbria police, said: "This was an extremely tragic incident. A thorough, joint investigation is underway at this time and, at this stage, we cannot speculate on what happened."