TWO twins snatched from social services by their mother are safe and well in police protection after being recovered by officers.

Their father William Francis, aged 31, of Greenwich, had made a series of appeals to the public for help in tracing them.

Lincolnshire Police said they located four-year-olds Billy Blu and Vixen Rae Francis, who were taken by their mother Tamara Dyson from a care centre in Skegness last Thursday, after a police operation.

A man and a woman have been arrested and are waiting to be questioned at Lincoln police station, the force said.

No details were given of where or when the twins were recovered.

Social workers were supposed to be monitoring a visit from their grandmother when the toddlers were taken on Thursday.

On Tuesday Mr Francis said he was "livid" about social services' handling of the case.

He said: "The kids are my life. I love them to death, I can't describe it any other way. I just haven't got a clue where they have gone."

There were apparently two social workers present but Ms Dyson, an alcoholic, managed to sneak in and seize them after the staff became distracted while making a cup of coffee.

She snatched the twins from the same contact centre last Monday during a supervised visit but was tracked down and an interim care order put in place.

A second meeting at the same centre was arranged for Thursday with the twins' 61-year-old grandmother Judith Dyson.

It has also emerged that Ms Dyson was scheduled to have a meeting on Wednesday to see whether she could look after the twins on a permanent basis.

Yesterday it was alleged that she had only turned to drink after suffering domestic violence at the hands of Mr Francis.

The claim was made by her 16-year-old daughter from a previous relationship Olympia Dyson.