A Bristol mum who allegedly left her children home alone in a house which filled with smoke has been charged with neglect.

Mechell Osborne, 23, is accused of leaving her three girls – aged one, two and three – alone in Westleigh Road, Southmead, on September 27.

Neighbour Rob Sullivan spotted smoke billowing out of a downstairs window of the house at about 10am that day.

The 49-year-old ran into the semi-detached council house and removed plastic plates smouldering on the cooker. Mr Sullivan is said to have then gone upstairs to find a baby girl crying in her cot. He said after the incident: "The plastic plates were melted and were seconds from bursting into flames. The smoke was really thick." The children were uninjured.

Avon and Somerset police confirmed Miss Osborne had been charged with two counts of child neglect and had been bailed to appear at Bristol Magistrates' Court next month.