Two-year-old crosses road alone after escaping nursery in Manchester

A distraught mum has spoken of her horror after finding out her two-year-old son had crossed a road alone after escaping from nursery. 

Shannan Lees, 24, from Denton, Greater Manchester, got the worrying call on Friday 18 September telling her that her little boy, Harvey, had been picked up by a concerned woman who spotted him in the road by himself.The lady, who stopped her car after seeing the youngster cross Tame Street and run up Quebec Street, then called the police and took him to Sky High Achievers The Bungalow day nursery, on Ashton Road - which it transpired he attended. 

Shannan has taken her son out of the nursery since and has said he 'could've ended up dead' had the passer-by not intervened.

She thought the nursery would be a good fit for Harvey after it was highly recommended by a friend.

Since the incident, which happened just metres away from the nursery, she has found it difficult to find a space for him elsewhere.

Many have waiting lists, and she says she will 'struggle to leave her son with anyone else' after the ordeal.

In a response, the nursery said that from its investigations it transpired the toddler had been 'missing for less than a minute' and it is working with Ofsted and the local authorities to look into what happened.

Shannan said: "I just want to make people aware of what happened. I just can't believe it.

I got called after 4:30pm last Friday, telling me he had escaped from the nursery and had been found by someone.

"I was shouting down the phone, I was just in shock. I rushed down and the woman who stopped and ran after Harvey was also there waiting.

"My partner got CCTV from a neighbour and you can see Harvey following a man who crosses the road before him.

Then he goes to cross the road himself and continues to walk along the pavement up Quebec Street, which leads to a busy main road.

"It is so scary to think what could've happened to him. He could've been hit by a car or could've ended up dead. I don't like to think about it.

"You trust the life of your child with responsible adults and now I worry about doing that again. I think I would struggle now to leave him with someone else again after this.

"It is important people are made aware that things like this can happen. I wouldn't want any other parent going through this as the outcome could be a lot worse. It is awful to think about it."

Ofsted has confirmed it is aware of an incident but said it is awaiting further information from the relevant authorities so could not comment further.

The nursery said such an incident had 'never happened before' and that it has taken 'immediate measures to improve security' such as fitting CCTV cameras and new locks and cameras on gates.

A spokesperson for Sky High Achievers The Bungalow said: "This was an unfortunate incident, which has never happened before. 

"Thankfully, on this occasion the child came to no harm, and we believe from our investigation he was missing for less than a minute. 

"We offer our sincere apologies to his family and have reached out to them to check on all of them as this has understandably caused them some concern.

"We take the safety and security of all the children in our care extremely seriously and immediately contacted Ofsted and the local authority when this happened in line with our safeguarding protocols.

"We are continuing to work with both Ofsted and the local authority on our investigations.

"We have also taken immediate measures to improve security across the whole of the nursery which includes fitting CCTV coverage of the playground and internal rooms and fitting new locks and cameras on the gates. 

"As part of the Ofsted investigation, we shall be reviewing our systems and protocols to ensure that our security is as good as it can be in future.”