A COUPLE and their seven children have been forced to share beds and sleep on mattresses and car seats following a fire which ravaged their home.

Gemma Robertson and Neville Parker lost "everything" in a fire which gutted their home in Drake Avenue, Dines Green, Worcester, on Saturday.

The couple were out visiting a relative when the fire tore through their home, as reported on the front page of yesterday's Worcester News.

The family of nine is now living in cramped conditions in Miss Robertson's grandmother's two-bedroom home in nearby Gresham Road.

The family only has two beds between them - the couple have one and their sons Darius, three, and Brodie, five, the other.

The girls, Shauna, six, and Shania, seven, are sleeping on a mattress.

The three youngest, Tyler, one, and twins Shakira and Boyd, four months, are sleeping in car seats in the house.

Miss Robertson said the situation will be even more of a squeeze once her grandmother, Denver Francis, returns home from holiday.

But yesterday the people of Worcester showed their support for the family by pledging gifts to help them recover from the fire which Mr Parker described as a "raging inferno".

One woman, who wished to stay anonymous, offered toys to the children, including a doll's house, rocking horse ladybird push chair, toy shopping trolley, books, jigsaws and a sofa bed.

Another generous resident offered a settee and a dressing table to replace the furniture and property they lost which included a leather settee, blinds, toys, a widescreen television and clothes.

The heat from the fire was so intense part of the roof collapsed, and windows, guttering and blinds were melted.Fire crews from Hereford and Worcester were called to the blaze at 3pm and had brought it under control by 4.30pm.

A spokesman for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that investigations into the cause of the blaze were ongoing.