Parents were spared jail but their children will be adopted by a foster carer

Two children were taken into care after staff on the Jeremy Kyle Show (file picture) tipped off police over fears their parents were neglecting them

Two unwashed and malnourished children were taken into care after staff on the Jeremy Kyle Show tipped off police over fears their parents were neglecting them.

The man and woman, 26 and 23, were guests on the show last February and left the children, both less than two years old, with staff at the studios in Manchester as they appeared on the programme.

While the parents were away being filmed, Jeremy Kyle Show workers became so concerned that the children, who smelled strongly of urine and faeces, were not being cared for properly that they called in police.

A member of staff on the ITV show said one of the children had bruises on their face and that both were 'unresponsive, emotionally vacant, dirty and unkempt'.

The siblings both smelt strongly of faeces and urine even though their nappies were clean - with show staff concluding that they hadn't been washed for some time, a court head.

The day after the filming, police and social workers swooped on the couple's home in Coventry and arrested the pair for child neglect.

The authorities found the house was cold, dirty clothes were strewn around and there were faeces stains on the carpets.

The mother, who was heavily pregnant at the time and is the biological parent of both children, then disappeared upstairs and was found changing the nappy of the older child.

His legs and feet were caked in faeces and she was trying to clean him using baby wipes, Coventry Crown Court was told.

Both of the children were found to have barely put on any weight over several months and 'fed like animals' when they were placed in foster care.

Judge Philip Gregory blasted the children's overweight parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, saying: 'Looking at these two defendants it didn't look like they were stingy with their own portions - they're both well nourished to say the least.'

He also praised Jeremy Kyle Show staff for alerting the authorities after spotting signs of neglect.

Addressing the couple, the judge said: 'You had the care of two very young and vulnerable children. This was an enormous privilege.

'You were responsible to discharge that care carefully and properly so that these two children were well looked after, properly fed, kept warm and kept clean.

A member of staff on the ITV show told Coventry Crown Court (pictured) one of the children had bruises on their face and that both were 'unresponsive, emotionally vacant, dirty and unkempt'

'Over a period of at least two months you failed immeasurably to fulfil that responsibility to these two children. As a consequence your home was visited and was found to be, quite frankly, disgusting.

'The two children were not properly clothed, you had let them get too cold, you hadn't fed them properly and you hadn't washed them.

'You were both feeding yourselves more than enough but when these two children went to foster care they were seen to eat like animals.

'You only have to set out this history to see how appallingly let down by you these two children were.

'What matters most is that these two young children are placed in a caring home where they have got a decent future removed from you.

'Should you have any more children the first people in your home will be Coventry social services.'

Peter Cooper, prosecuting, had earlier told the court: 'A report from the foster carer describes how they were seen eating, gulping food down quickly like little animals, almost feral.

'She noticed them banging their heads on the floor and wall but that subsided during their stay with her.

'By the time of her statement, when nine months had gone by, the only time they would behave that way was after contact with their mother.'

Both children are now with adoptive parents and while an adoption order has yet to be made it is likely that it will be in the future, the court was told.

The pair's biological child, born a few weeks after the visit from police and social services, is in the care of the man's mother.