The spacious semi which Mandy Power shared with her two young daughters and invalid mother has been renovated from top to bottom, all traces of the fire which blackened its windows now invisible.

It's horrific to think that such a crime had been committed in our village

Local councillor Sylvia Lewis

As a town built around the metal and mining industries, Clydach was in some ways used to tragedy.

But the deliberate killing of children seemed beyond belief.

Neighbours who spotted the blaze at the house and alerted the fire service at 0427 BST on 27 June, 1999, thought it was simply a house on fire.

Their thoughts were immediately for the family inside and, as fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus began to bring out the bodies, they prayed they would all be found alive.

The house was burned out after the attack

Neither they or anyone else at the scene had any idea of the horrifically brutal story which was about to unfold.

Councillor Sylvia Lewis knew the family well, and she said: "It's horrific to think that such a crime had been committed in our local village".

"Everybody was stunned and I think we're still stunned. It's something we will never recover from."

"It's horrendous to think that anybody could hurt little children, and it's left its mark on the village.

"But life has got to go on and our feelings are obviously with the family. Our hearts go out to them."

The funeral was a terrible day for Mrs Power's family

Norma Grayer, landlady at the Three Compasses pub in Clydach at the time of the murders, was a friend of Mrs Power's.

She said the shock of the deaths would always always remain.

"Everybody was so upset and shocked because Mandy was such a nice woman," she said.

"Everybody fell for her and her family and they were just shocked that it could happen in a small community like Clydach."

She described Mrs Power as "a very, very nice person," and added : "Nobody had a word bad to say about the lady. "I don't think that this family will ever be forgotten in Clydach.

You had to re-write the rulebook in a way, to conduct a funeral in tragic circumstances like that

Clydach vicar Timothy Hewitt

"It's such a shame to happen to a family like that. I don't think that Clydach will ever forget that dreadful night."

The day the four funerals took place there was, understandably, a mixture of emotions at work.

There were tears as the small coffins of the children were carried into the church, and as the theme music from the film Titanic - a favourite of Mrs Power's - was relayed outside by loudspeakers to mourners unable to fit in to the crowded pews.

The vicar of Clydach, Reverend Tim Hewitt, was asked to speak on behalf of relatives of the deceased to keep them from media pressure.

He said attendance at the funeral was unprecedented in the south Wales valleys.

He described the service as one he would never forget.

Mourners packed the church and listened outside

"The one thing that I will remember is the way in which the community pulled together to support the family," he said.

"Everyone was there in the high street, outside the church, inside the church and they followed the cortege all the way up to the cemetery.

"Everyone was there to show their support for the family and their feelings. You really had to re-write your thoughts, you had to re-write your ideas.

"You had to re-write the rulebook in a way, to conduct a funeral in tragic circumstances like that."

A special programme on the Clydach murders is broadcast on BBC One Wales at 2055 BST on Friday.