A MOTHER and her children are living with relatives after an arson attack gutted the ground floor of their Newport house.

Sharon Davies, aged 42, and her two sons Wesley, 13, and Shane, 14 , returned home on Monday evening to find their house in Dolphin Street, Pill, on fire.

Police believe the blaze is suspicious as several fires were started inside the house, and now an arson investigation is under way.

Ms Davies arrived home as the firefighters battled the blaze, discovered at 6.20pm. She said: "One of the neighbours took me in but I couldn't sit, I wanted to be outside my house. I stayed there for a couple of hours crying.

"I haven't been in the house but my partner has and he said all the living room and passage was gutted and everything else had smoke damage." She added: "I am going to have leave the property because I don't feel safe."

Her partner, Adrian Morgan, added: "I don't know what we would have done if we had been in the house when it happened." Police in Pill are appealing for witnesses.