Parents' outrage as son walks half a mile home from nursery alone

Finley Cracknell pushed open a fire exit, clambered over a 2ft fence, walked through the front gate of the nursery and then toddled on to the pavement.

After leaving the Explorers Children's Centre in Christchurch, Dorset, he then wandered along the roadside next to fast-moving traffic.

He walked along the road to his empty home - half a mile away from the nursery - where he knocked on the front door.

After getting no answer, he trotted back on to the pavement before being found by a surprised neighbour who called his mother, Sarah Cracknell.

By that time the 26-year-old had already found out that Finley had vanished and had been frantic with worry. Mrs Cracknell had dropped her son off at the nursery at noon while she attended a Parent-Teacher Association lunch at the neighbouring school.

It was only when she went to pick him up that she realised he was missing.

She said: "I went through half an hour of what Madeleine McCann's parents must be going through 24 hours a day.

"I was absolutely frantic because you automatically think the worst-case scenario.

"The relief when my next-door neighbour told me she had found him was overwhelming.

"Apparently, Finley had been knocking on both of our front doors trying to get into the house.

"I can't believe he was able to get out of the nursery in the first place and then make it all the way home unscathed.

"I'm unsure whether to send him back in January. Firstly, I would need to know that safety measures have been reviewed.

"I just don't want this to happen to any other parent.

"My intention isn't to cause trouble for the nursery - it is a great place with fantastic staff, but this needs to be a wake-up call.

"It makes you think if a three-year-old can get out without anyone noticing, who could get in?

"Finley is no different from any other naturally inquisitive three-year-old. The scary thing is that it could have been a much younger child who didn't know their way home.

"Thankfully, to him it was a huge adventure."

Richard Chapman, headmaster of Somerford Primary School, of which the nursery is part, confirmed his staff had tightened up security measures at the school.

He said: "We take the safety of our pupils very seriously, and this incident should not have happened.

"No child should be able to leave the school premises without the knowledge of the staff.

"I will be discussing the matter with the child's parents, but in the meantime we have fitted our doors with small alarms to alert staff if any pupil tries to leave, and during the Christmas holidays the height of the school fence will also be raised."