Neighbour of mum and two children who died following a house fire speaks of attempts to rouse the family

A neighbour of a mum and two children who died following a house fire has told how he and others tried to rouse the family to save them.

Paul Norton lives across the road from the Collison family ­— Gavin, 34, Justine, 33, Isabella, 8, and Harvey, 5 ­— in Collingham and was preparing to go for a run with his son Elliot, 20, when he noticed the glow of fire from his landing window.

Mr Norton, who laid flowers at the scene on Monday, said he saw the Collison's conservatory was on fire.

He called the emergency services, which was the second call received.

Mr Norton, his son, another neighbour, and a van driver went to the property.

"We tried to rouse them. We did what we could to get them up," he said.

"We then went to the back door. It took a bit of time to find something to break in with.

"After we had done that we could hear the sirens of the first fire engine. They were there quite quickly."

The first fire crew on the scene was from Collingham.

Mr Norton said they set about trying to put out the conservatory fire, broke the door down and went straight in wearing breathing apparatus.

Mr Norton and the other would-be rescuers were told to leave the immediate scene.

"I just wanted them to find them and bring them out safely," Mr Norton said.

"I was aware there would have been a lot of smoke."

Mr Norton said the events of Saturday morning on Woodhill Drive were difficult to come to terms with.

"When you're told they're in hospital in a serious condition, well, that's not critical is it, so you hope they'll make it through the night, for the next 24 hours ­— that they'll go the distance," he said.

"It started to hit home on Saturday and then more so on Sunday when the little boy died.

"As a father, I think about it. It's just a complete tragedy.

"It feels empty on the street without them. There's real sadness."

Mr Norton said the Collisons were good neighbours.

"I didn't know them well," he said.

"They moved in in November of 2016 and we in December.

"They were a very pleasant family ­— quite sociable and would have parties in the summer. We would see them to say hello to, my wife and I, and we'd see Gavin doing the gardening.

"They were just a lovely normal couple bringing up a family.

"I knew that the mother of one of the parents, Diane, lived with them too.

"I knew that Diane seemed OK from when she was brought out from the fire."