AN inquest into the death of a baby who was attacked by a dog has been opened.

Emergency services were called to Emily Street in Blackburn after reports that 11-month-old Ava-Jayne Corless had been injured by a dog.

She was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital where she died.

A post mortem was carried out and revealed she had suffered ‘multiple injuries’.

Michael Singleton, senior corner for Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, adjourned the hearing until April 23 to allow police inquiries to finish.

Ava-Jayne’s mother Chloe King, 20, and her partner, Lee Wright, 26, were held on suspicion of manslaughter and child cruelty. They have since been released on bail.

The hearing yesterday happened on the same day six-day-old Eliza-Mae Mullane died in Carmarthenshire.

Officers there seized the family dog, an Alaskan malamute – not listed under the Dangerous Dogs Act – from the property.

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said: “It is such tragic news coming so close to our own local tragic incident. It underlines the fact that we really need to look at the owners of dogs and ensure everything that can be done is being done to ensure such attacks are confined to history.”