Police removed four children from their home in Tilburg at the weekend when one of them called emergency number 112 to say they were worried about their father, local broadcaster Omroep Brabant reported.

Officer at the scene Mandy van Os took to Instagram to describe the house as “a complete mess, with no clean clothes for the children.” The youngest two, who slept on improvised beds, hadn’t eaten in 24 hours and there was just mouldy food in the fridge, she said.

The children, whose ages were not made public, have been taken into care while social service are investigating the situation. It is not known how the father of the children is doing.