Three German children have been rescued from a “horror house” in Spain where they spent years living under a Covid lockdown imposed by their parents.

Spanish police arrested the adults, who had forced their children to remain in the house wearing face masks and nappies long after the end of Covid restrictions.

An investigator told Spanish media that “as soon as we got them out, all three children began to breathe deeply, as if they had never been outside before”.

Speaking to the El Comercio newspaper, investigators suggested the parents suffered from “Covid syndrome” and had continued to live in fear of the virus for several years.

“We have all been affected by Covid syndrome and the consequences of the pandemic. We can reflect on what led a family to live in confinement for so long,” the investigator said.

The children appeared to be amazed that they were finally allowed outdoors, and went to touch the grass on the lawn, investigators said.

They had been forced to wear three face masks on top of each other before officers entered the house, the Bild tabloid reported.