The Bristol mum arrested after apparently leaving her three young children home alone in a house where fire broke out only recently had the girls returned by social services, their dad has said.

He told the Bristol Evening Post he was "devastated" to find out they had seemingly been left to their own devices as plastic plates started to smoulder in the kitchen of the Southmead home.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also expressed his thanks to Rob Sullivan, who rescued his baby daughter on Sunday morning as smoke billowed out of a downstairs window on Westleigh Road.

"I just want to say how grateful I am for what he did," the 29-year-old said last night. "I dread to think what would have happened if he hadn't been there.

"I do not know the full story yet but I feel devastated. I saw the kids last Monday. They were returned by social services two weeks ago.

"I can't really say much at the moment because of the police investigation. I was just really shocked when I found out what had happened."

He said physically the children are uninjured and OK.

"They're doing fine now but they were very scared," he added. "They're staying with a family member at the moment."

As reported yesterday, after seeing the older girls wandering around in the street at about 10am, unemployed gardener Mr Sullivan ran into the semi-detached council house to discover plastic plates burning on the cooker. He removed them before racing upstairs to find a baby girl crying in her cot.

Yesterday he told how the mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had battled to be reunited with her children after they had previously been taken into care.

The 23-year-old mother, who has been bailed pending enquiries, was arrested after arriving back at the home up to an hour after the fire.

Mr Sullivan, 49, said: "Leaving such young children alone all night like this is just mad and beyond belief.

"The quilts were in the living room and they'd been left to their own devices."

Mr Sullivan said the mother-of-three had only moved into the road a couple of months ago.

"I don't really know the woman myself," he added. "The house was a tip when I went in. There was flour and butter all over the floor and work surfaces and they'd clearly been trying to bake some cakes.

"'The plastic plates were melted and were seconds from bursting into flames. The smoke was rally thick and I've been left with a pretty sore throat today.

"God knows what would have happened to the baby upstairs if I hadn't gone in there. The fireman said that another 30 seconds and the plastic would have ignited."

A spokeswoman for Bristol Social Services said: "We are unable to comment on individual cases involving families.

"But if a child is left alone at home we work closely with the police and other agencies to ensure they are cared for in the short term either by other family members or foster carers.

"We then work with the family involved to ensure the child's future is safe and secure."