A three-year-old girl is thought to have spent up to a week alone at home in Rotterdam with the body of her dead mother and a dog before being found by police.

The child was found on January 20 by police who had been summoned by the landlord after downstairs neighbours reported a leak. She had left the tap running in her efforts to find food and drink, local broadcaster RTV Rijnmond reported on Friday.

City alderman Sven de Langen told councillors about the tragedy on Thursday night and said he had asked social services inspectors to investigate their involvement with the family. The woman, who was 41, and her daughter, were under social worker supervision.

The woman reportedly died of natural causes but no details about the cause of death have been given. Police have not yet confirmed how long the child had been alone.

Relatives of the dead woman told  RTV Rijnmond that the woman had asked for help from officials and that they had said they were dealing with the case. ‘How can this have gone unnoticed for a week,’ one of her sisters told the broadcaster.

‘We have done all we could to help our sister, up to having her detained [in a psychiatric hospital],’ she said. ‘But our sister refused any contact with us.’

The girl is currently being cared for by foster parents and is ‘doing well given the circumstances,’ De Langen said.