Toddler left in locked parked car during hot weather

A toddler has been rescued from a car in Saffron Walden after being left alone inside from more than an hour in the hot weather.

Firefighters were called and needed to smash the car window to free the boy who is thought to be around eighteen months old.

The car was in a car park in the town on Saturday (22nd June) with temperatures on that day around 25 deg C.

A referral has now been made to social services.

Firefighters eventually freed the little boy shortly after 4.30pm after smashing the driver's window.

The boy was crying and was visibly distressed as he was pulled from the car, then a woman - believed to be his mother - returned.

The toddler was passed to her and they were ushered into the back of a waiting ambulance for the boy to be assessed by a St John's Ambulance crew.

Police officers later spent more than half an hour speaking to the woman in the back of the emergency vehicle.

• According to Child Safety Europe, car temperatures can rise 10 to 15 degrees celsius every 15 minutes and opening windows does not significantly slow down the rate.

• At just 22'C outside, in a car it can reach a deadly 47'C within an hour.

• When the human body reaches temperatures above 40'C, the organs are at risk, but children are more vulnerable because their bodies heat up three to five times faster.