A 73-year-old Austrian man has confessed to holding his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathering seven children by her.

Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, told police her father, Josef Fritzl, lured her into the basement of the block where they lived in the town of Amstetten in 1984, and drugged and handcuffed her before imprisoning her.

Head of security for Lower Austria, Franz Prucher, said: "This is an appalling crime. I know of no comparable case in Austria."

Three of Elisabeth's children - a girl aged 19, and boys aged 18 and five - were locked up in the basement with her since birth and had never seen sunlight. Three others - two girls and a boy - were raised by Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie. All the victims are receiving medical treatment.

Fritzl, who will be summoned before a judge later, has also admitted to burning the body of the seventh child in the heating system when it died soon after birth.

Some parts of the cell in which the family were kept were no more than 1.70m (5ft 6in) high and officials said the basement even contained a padded cell. Images showed a narrow passageway leading into other rooms which included a cooking area, sleeping area and a small bathroom with a shower. A tube provided ventilation.

The case unfolded when the eldest girl became seriously ill and was taken to hospital, prompting doctors to appeal for the girl's mother to come forward to provide more details about her medical history.

Fritzl then brought Elisabeth and her remaining two children out of the basement, telling his wife - who thought their "missing" daughter had chosen to return home, police said.

Psychiatrist Max Friedrich said the children are undergoing tests in hospital, in particular for problems with their eyes and skin due to the lack of daylight.

The case is reminiscent of that of Austrian Natascha Kampusch who spent eight years locked up in a windowless cell before dashing to freedom in August 2006.

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