Police said on Monday they had launched an investigation after the remains of two babies were found in a house in Greater Manchester.

The remains were in a box in the house in Audenshaw, east of Manchester, media reports said.

The discovery was made by the relative of an elderly woman who had lived at the property as the house was cleared out after her death, a Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said.

The babies' remains "had been at the address for some time", the spokeswoman added.

A post mortem will being carried out this week to determine how the babies died, giving detectives a clearer picture as to whether the deaths were suspicious or not.

"We won't really have much of an idea until we have found out the cause of death," the spokeswoman said.