Tributes have poured in for a "really lovely" Warwickshire father and son who died when their boat overturned at a weir on the River Avon in Barford.

The father, named locally as Julian Mynott, 42, was enjoying an afternoon row on Saturday with his three-year-old son Freddie, and two other children when tragedy struck.

It is thought their small rowing boat went over a three-metre high weir and capsized in the river close to the family home in Barford, near Warwick.

Neighbours said Mr Mynott and his wife Emma, 41, who was not onboard the boat, have two other children, Florence and Archie.

Freddie was pulled from the water at about 8.30pm and Mr Mynott was found shortly after 10pm.

Father and son were pronounced dead at the scene.

Friends and neighbours of the family in the close-knit picturesque village paid tribute to them.

Polly Bonner-Evans, who lives near to the family, said: "They were just really lovely people. The family were so kind, so nice, pleasant."

She said she was struggling to come to terms with what had happened and she could only imagine what "kind" Mrs Mynott was going through.

"My heart goes out to them," she said.

"I wish we could just scoop them up and wrap them in our arms and do whatever we could.

"I don't know how as a mother ... I don't know how you cope with that."

Ms Bonner-Evans said she saw fire fighters at the scene last night in floods of tears as they battled to save the family.

A local man heard the family in distress and jumped in the river to try to help but he had been so traumatised by the incident he did not want to talk about it, she said.

Describing what happened, she said: "They were out in the boat and they were up the stream past our house, then they came back towards their own house going home, but the current was just too strong."

She said that when people living close to the scene of the accident became aware of what was happening they tried to get out onto the river to help but were forced back by the current.

"A neighbour of ours went in a boat with a motor and I gave him life rings," Ms Bonner-Evans said, "but he couldn't make it because the current was too strong."

West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) said two children were pulled from the water and were being treated in hospital.

One of the youngsters is in a serious but stable condition in Birmingham Children's Hospital, Warwickshire Police said.

The second child is being treated at Warwick Hospital and is described as conscious but poorly.

Freddie had only just turned three, Ms Bonner-Evans said, and a party been held for him at the family home, which Mr and Mrs Mynott had bought around a year ago.