A man has been charged with murder after an arson attack left a mum dead and a baby critically ill.

Deanne Sparks, 39, also known as Dina Sharpe, died in the blaze in a fourth-floor flat in Southwark, southeast London, on Sunday.

The child was rescued from his dead mother's arms and remains in a critical but stable condition in a specialist burns unit.

Stephen John Singer, 36, will appear before Tower Bridge Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with murder, attempted murder and arson.

Police have hailed neighbours who rescued the toddler from the arms of his mother as "heroes".

Three or four of them used baseball bats to break into the burning home at the time of the fire.

Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Carl Mehta said: "It really is an act of pure heroism that ordinary residents, acting on impulse with little regard for their own lives, made this rescue attempt."