A community is in shock following the deaths of three young children and a woman in Lowestoft today.

People in Kirkley expressed their horror at the news that the bodies of three children aged three, two and 11-months had been found at a property in London Road South.

It comes after a woman in her 20s, who is believed to be the children's mother, was found with severe head injuries in Gordon Road this morning.

It is thought she fell from the multi-storey car park.

Floral tributes and cuddly toys have already been left at the scene, which is still cordoned off by police.

Within a few hours of the news breaking, Lowestoft was trending on Twitter, with people throughout the country expressing their sadness at the tragedy.

People living and working locally today described their shock at what had happened and expressed sympathy for the family of the dead woman and children.

Callum Kirkwood, 37, who works at Mandarin Cycles in London Road South, said: 'I don't know what to think about it,' he said. 'I have got three kids of my own. It is horrible and I don't like hearing about it.'

Nathan Block, a barman at The Winelodge, said: 'It doesn't seem possible. It is such a small town for something like that to happen, and all in one morning. It is not nice to think something like that has happened just around the corner.'

Another man, who asked not to be named, said: 'We heard three people had died but we didn't know they were little children. It makes your eyes water to even think about it, even though we didn't know them.'

The property, on the corner of London Road South and Grosvenor Road, is just streets away from Lowestoft's seafront hotels and bars and is midway between the seaside town's Claremont and South piers.