A man has been charged with murdering two people who died in a house blaze.

James Cox, of Albion Close in Oxford, was this afternoon (Wednesday) charged by police with murdering Howard Blake, 51, and Sian Sanchez, 36, both of no fixed address.

The charge follows a house fire in the old Abingdon Road, Oxford, on January 2.

Cox, 62, has been remanded in custody to appear at Oxford Crown Court on May 11.