Mansfield toddler who escaped from nursery found by passer-by 'about to step into busy road'

The three-year-old male child was discovered by a young Mansfield woman, who took him back to her home and called the police, according to posts on Facebook.

It later emerged that the youngster had absconded through an open kitchen door after managing to open a baby gate at around midday, in Wood Street, Mansfield yesterday (Thursday, April 21).

He had been under the care of Aunty Sue’s Day Care in neighbouring St John’s Street, when the incident occurred, and was later returned to the centre by the woman and police officers.

In a post on Facebook, the woman said: "There’s moments in life when you think to yourself you were meant to be there at the moment.

“I have no children but the worry I had for this little boy was insane, felt physically sick and was shaking. Anybody could of grabbed him, anything could of happened – makes me think twice having my own, having to trust other people to look out for them and keep them safe.

“We took him [to the nursery] to see if it was there that he’d escaped from and a few members off staff were running around the car park like crazy and saw the police carrying him.”

The woman said that she was with the child for around 20 minutes and with the police for a further 15 minutes, while a spokesman for the nursery said he was absent for a much shorter period, which is supported by their CCTV.

The nursery is now working with Ofsted and other safeguarding partners to ensure nothing similar happens again, she said.

In a message sent to parents and seen by your Chad, the nursery said it also plans to replace the kitchen door with a stable door, so it can be left part-open in hot weather without causing risk of youngsters absconding in future.

It states: “Today we had an awful incident happen, as it was really hot in the kitchen the cook opened the rear door and unfortunately, one of the children managed to pull open the stair gate to the kitchen and escaped through the rear door. It was only seconds before we realised and the child is safe and well.”

The letter also states that the child’s mother is happy with the measures put in place.

Inspector Keiron Hancock, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Police were called following reports that a young child had been found walking on his own along Wood Street, Mansfield, at around midday yesterday.

“It is understood that the three-year-old boy had gone missing from a day care centre a short while earlier that same day.

“The child was unhurt during the incident and was returned safely back to his family.

“If anyone has any information about what happened, we’d ask that they contact police on 101, quoting incident 279 of 21 April 2022.”