A man murdered his wife before killing himself at their home with their three children inside, police say.

The woman, 26, was "violently attacked" before she was killed at the house in Oldbury, police said. The pair's bodies were found by police after a neighbour raised the alarm when they heard the children crying at about 2pm on Saturday.

No-one else is being sought over the deaths. Detectives believe they died earlier on in the morning.

The three children − all aged under eight with one described as a baby − are being cared for by family members after the bodies were found at the home in Pel Crescent. Neighbours said the alarm was raised after the couple's eldest child a girl knocked on the door of the house next door. Det Insp Jim Munro said:

"This is a truly tragic incident. It's understood the woman was violently attacked before the offender took his own life.

"The timeline of exactly what happened is unclear but we believe the two people died during the morning."

Neighbours said three ambulances arrived at the home on Saturday afternoon. One man, who did not want to be named, said:

"The eldest, their daughter, is about seven or eight - she knocked on the neighbour's door. There's a small baby and another child. The children were taken out.

"One of them, the middle child, was refusing to come out initially, as they wanted to stay inside with their mother."

Another neighbour added: "It's such a shock, I can't believe it. Nothing usually happens here, it's really quiet.

"I just feel for the kids, you know, because they've lost their mum and their dad."