A man has been charged with the murders of a Gambian mother and her two young daughters following a horrific house fire in Nottingham, UK.

Fatoumatta Hydara and her children – Fatimah, three, and one-year-old Naeemah – died in hospital after the blaze at their home on Sunday.

Nottinghamshire Police said on Thursday that Jamie Barrow, 31, has been charged with their murders.

A joint fire and police investigation concluded that the blaze was started deliberately.

Ms Hydara and her daughters were taken to Queen’s Medical Centre after the fire in Fairisle Close in the early hours of Sunday, with the sisters pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police said the 28-year-old mother had been placed on a life support machine, but died on Tuesday morning.

Barrow, of Fairisle Close, will be kept in custody overnight to appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Our thoughts remain with the family at this incredibly painful time, as well as the communities that have been affected by this most tragic of incidents.

“The grief this family has been put through is incomprehensible.”

He said large teams of detectives have been “working relentlessly” alongside specialist search units and forensic experts to understand the full circumstances behind the fire.

“Following those inquiries, we have charged a suspect with three counts of murder,” he said, adding that officers were doing everything they can to gain justice for the mother and children.