MOTHER OF BLAZE TODDLER PUT ON BAIL

The toddler is in the care of social services after being rescued from a first-floor room in a maisonette in Deptford, south-east London.

Two fire engines were sent to the home in Lynch Walk, where crews wearing breathing apparatus found the little boy alone.

According to local newspaper the News Shopper, he was left in a locked bedroom with a doughnut and a bowl of milk.

Watch manager John Banks told the newspaper: "We have never seen anything like this. We have found kids alone before - but not locked in a room in a burning building. If we had got there 15 minutes later then we probably would have been looking at a fatality."

The boy's mother, who is in her 40s, was arrested on suspicion of child neglect, Scotland Yard said.

She has been released on police bail until a date in December, a spokesman said.

A 45-year-old man was taken to hospital by ambulance suffering from smoke inhalation.

The toddler was taken to hospital for checks then discharged, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

The fire, which damaged the ground floor of the property, was brought under control in 20 minutes, LFB said.