A murder investigation has been launched in South Africa after the bodies of a Haworth man and his wife were discovered in their fire-ravaged home.

Police and fire officers were called to the burning house in the suburbs of Johannesburg after the alarm was raised by a neighbour.

The bodies of 65-year-old Bob Green and his wife Joy were discovered inside the property in Meyerton. There were signs of a break-in.

Mr Green's younger brother Jack, of Wardle Crescent, Keighley, said the family was desperately trying to get more information about the tragedy from the authorities.

Jack Green, 57, a maintenance bricklayer, said: "We have been getting little bits of information but the police in South Africa have been playing their cards fairly close to their chest. We just want some answers.

"This whole thing has really shaken us up. It is horrific. My mother - who still lives locally - is 90 and this has really knocked her off her feet."

Supt Piet Van Deventer, of Meyerton police, said that due to the severity of the fire it was proving difficult to establish precisely what happened, but he confirmed that the couple's deaths were being treated as murder.

Tests have been carried out in a bid to determine how the couple died, and what started the fire last Tuesday.

Supt Van Deventer said security gates and the front door of the house had been forced open, and neighbours reported hearing people running from the scene.

He said: "When police and fire officers arrived at around 4am, the house was well alight. We found the bodies of Mr and Mrs Green in the bedroom area.

"We are working on the theory that there was a burglary involved, but the house was completely gutted in the blaze and it is not clear if anything was stolen.

"Also we have been unable to establish so far if the couple died as a result of the fire or were dead before it started. A post-mortem examination has been carried out, and we are awaiting the results of forensic examinations.

"This is an extremely unusual and abhorrent crime which has caused a great deal of shock and anxiety in the neighbourhood. We are determined to find those responsible."

Bob Green was born at Haworth and was educated at Lees School and the former Haworth Secondary Modern. He lived at Fern Street in Haworth.

He became an apprentice blacksmith with T&S Gledhill, which occupied premises at the junction of Alice Street and Lawkholme Lane in Keighley.

He then completed two years' National Service with the Grenadier Guards and worked for about 18 months with Northern Metal Spraying in Marriner Road, Keighley, before emigrating to South Africa about 40 years ago. Latterly he worked as a manager in the country for the former Pilkington Tiles (UK).