Two British children have died from suspected poisoning and their father and his partner are in a coma after the family’s half-term holiday in a Greek island ended in a macabre mystery.

Police were by the bedside of Neil Shepherd, 38, and Ruth Beatson, 28, waiting for them to regain consciousness last night to see whether the family possibly, by accident or design, ate poisoned food.

The couple, from the village of Horbury, near Wakefield, were on life-support machines and said to be in a "critical" condition by doctors at a hospital in the resort of Gouvia, Corfu.

The bodies of Christianne, 7, and her brother, Robert, 6, were found by a hotel cleaner yesterday and doctors believe that the children had been dead for up to ten hours.

Medical staff say the results of toxicology tests are unlikely to be completed today and could take several days. One theory is that the family may have snacked on toxic mushrooms, another that they inhaled poisonous fumes.

Post-mortem examinations on the children are expected to be carried out later today but all samples are being taken to a university on the Greek mainland for further investigation, adding to the delay.

As British diplomats arranged for relatives to be flown to Corfu, Bieriris Dimitris, the chief of security police on the island, said: "We are looking at what could have happened. This is a terrible tragedy."

Mr Shepherd was taking his children for a week-long half-term break. They spend most of their time with his former wife, Sharon Aspey, who is a dance teacher living in the same village. She and her partner had moved into a £300,000 detached house with her children less than six months ago. Last night Ms Aspey was being comforted by relatives after being told of the children’s deaths.

Mr Shepherd’s father, Howard, who helps to run the family-owned lorry-parts business in Horbury, said: "My grand-children were so looking forward to this trip with their dad. They were both so excited. We are devastated. We don’t really understand what has happened and we are still trying to find out."

He said that his son and Ms Beatson had been living together for the past three years in a terraced house in the same street as the family business.

A neighbour of Ms Aspey said that she and her new husband, Paul Wood, had married during the summer in Cyprus. "The little lad was very excited. He said he was looking forward to having a new daddy. They were very sweet kids. Their father didn’t see them that often, maybe once every couple of weeks."

Corfu police were still searching the family’s bungalow, No B112, at the four-star Louis Corcyra hotel complex in Gouvia last night. Officers had spent the day questioning other British holidaymakers who had talked to the family.

Mr Dimitris said: "Witnesses have told us that they were just a normal family. They were seen coming back to the hotel early on Wednesday evening.

"They were not seen in the hotel restaurant that night, so they may have eaten out or in their rooms."

The police chief said that so far nothing had been found to indicate that there was any deliberate attempt to take the family’s lives.

Officers searched the hotel grounds after reports that the family could have picked and then eaten wild mushrooms, although there were no obvious signs that the family had made a meal in the room. None of the other 500 guests had complained of food poisoning.

Witnesses said that there was no forced entry to the family’s room and that a "Do Not Disturb" sign had been left on the door. There were no signs of a struggle in the room. All four members of the family were found lying in pools of vomit.

Those in adjoining rooms were said to have heard no calls for help nor had anyone heard any arguments among the party in the three days that they had been in Gouvia.

Last night a doctor, who was the first to treat Mr Shepherd and Ms Beatson, told The Times: "They both remain in a coma. It does not look like an accident. They may have eaten something or taken something. We have found no puncture marks on either of them."

A receptionist at the hotel who saw the family the night before this happened said: "They looked very happy. They had not caused any problems during their stay."

The couple had booked through the tour operator Thomas Cook. A spokesman for the company said that it was waiting to hear from the hospital in Corfu.

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