Toddler trapped in metal box at nursery for TWO HOURS - and staff didn't notice he was missing

A toddler spent two hours trapped inside a metal container in the grounds of a nursery without anybody noticing he was missing.

When Ben Sangi's mother arrived to pick him up, staff claimed his father had already collected the two-year- old  -  but she knew her partner was waiting outside in the car.

Ben's coat and bag were still hanging on their hook and it was feared he had been abducted.

After a frantic search it turned out that Ben had somehow become locked in a container used to store toys in the grounds of the council-run nursery.

The traumatised toddler is having difficulty sleeping and his family are demanding an inquiry.

Ben's Iranian-born parents, student Saeid Sangi, 34, and Mitra Ahmadi, 27, had started taking him to the council-run Daisy Bank Centre in Manchester only a few days earlier.

For the first week, his mother stayed with him, but one afternoon she had an errand and left him in their care for two-and-a-half hours.

When the couple arrived to collect Ben, staff told Miss Ahmadi that her partner had already taken him. 'Even now I can't believe it,' she said yesterday. 'I had never left him with anybody else before, even my close friends.

'I was thinking somebody had taken him, I was crying.'

Eventually, the tearful toddler was found trapped in the pitchblack interior of a 20ft by 8ft metal container at the side of the nursery.

He is thought to have been playing outside with the other children when it started raining and staff brought them indoors  -  but failed to realise Ben had wandered inside the container.

A toddler was trapped inside a metal container at a council-run nursery for two hours. Staff only realised Ben Sangi, 2, was missing when his mum turned up at the Daisy Bank Centre, Ardwick, Manchester

'Ben was completely white and looked really ill,' said Miss Ahmadi. 'I was so shocked. I can't believe nobody noticed he wasn't there.'

The couple, who live in Manchester, said Ben did not fall asleep until 4am that night and is still affected by his ordeal several days later.

Manchester City Council runs the centre, which employs 12 staff to care for 43 children.

In April an Ofsted inspection found the quality and standards of care at the centre were ' inadequate'.

'We have apologised unreservedly to the child's parents,' said a council spokesman. 'One member of staff has been suspended and another has been removed to administrative duties.'