MAYHILL: Police investigate after toddler gets out of nursery, and a stranger says she found him in the road

Police are investigating after a two-year-old boy got out of a nursery in Mayhill without staff knowing.

A woman who stopped her car on Gors Avenue says she found him walking alone in the middle of the road. His parents say they only found out when they arrived to collect him, about 40 minutes later.

Seren Fach Day Nursery is reported to dispute that he reached the road. It says it has brought in extra safety measures and that its procedures are being investigated.

The nursery is at the bottom of Gors Avenue, about 100 yards from the A483 dual carriageway. Gors Avenue meets Carmarthen Road at traffic lights there, just past Cwmbwrla Roundabout on the way into the city centre.

‘I could see a little boy walking in the middle of the road’

Nicolle Richards was driving up Gors Avenue on the morning of Wednesday 23 September when she saw him.

“I was driving up Gors Avenue and could see a little boy walking in the middle of the road all on his own,” she wrote on Facebook later that morning. “I stopped and grabbed him.”

She said a man went down to the nursery to fetch someone, and when a woman came out she explained that the boy had been in the middle of the road.

“I didn’t want to let the child go but had no option,” Ms Richards wrote. She said she had reported what happened to the police.

Parents say he had to get past two baby gates, four doors and the main gate

Noah’s parents, Sarah Durgan, 22, and Tarik Al Roshoq, 24, told the BBC they have been left traumatised.

“He could have been hit by a car, a bus, he could have been taken,” Mr Al Roshoq said.

In a Facebook post that evening, Ms Durgan said Noah had been found at the bottom of Gors Avenue. “God knows how long he’d been out by himself, and if it wasn’t for the kindness of a stranger it could have been a completely different story,” she wrote.

The couple say the nursery put what happened down to “no-one watching him” and “a door being left open”.

“When we first got in, we spoke to the manager, who said they were very sorry and there was no excuse for the doors to be open,” Mr Al Roshoq said.

They say Noah would have had to get past two baby gates, four doors including fire doors, and the main gate to reach Gors Avenue. They also say they have spoken to three people who saw him on the road with no adult.

In a post the next day, Ms Durgan said the nursery’s owners and managers continue to say Noah was not on the road.

“When you drop your children off in school or nursery you never think that anything could happen to them because they are in a professional’s hands,” Ms Durgan said.

“I trusted Seren Fach Day Nursery with my child and honestly the biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” she wrote. “They need to be held accountable for their mistakes.”

The couple have taken Noah out of the nursery, and say several other children have since been withdrawn. “The police aren’t taking it lightly, this is a two-year-old,” Mr Al Roshoq said.

Ms Durgan says she has reported what happened to the childcare regulator, Care Inspectorate Wales, as well as to the police. “We will be taking this as far as we possibly can to make sure other parents never have to experience the trauma me and my husband have been through,” she wrote on Facebook.

Seren Fach: ‘We would never seek to minimise a concern of this nature’

In a statement on Facebook that afternoon, the nursery said the matter was being taken “extremely seriously”, and that it could not comment on individual details while it was being looked into.

“The safety and wellbeing of the children entrusted to our care is something we take incredibly seriously, and we would never seek to minimise a concern of this nature,” it said.

“Seren Fach Day Nursery has been part of the local community for over 30 years, and during that time we have cared for generations of children and families.”

It added: “We have established safeguarding and security procedures in place, alongside staff training and risk assessments, all of which are being carefully investigated as part of our response to this incident.”

The nursery asked people not to speculate or share information about the child or anyone involved on social media, and to raise concerns directly with the nursery or the relevant authorities.

Police and Care Inspectorate Wales looking into what happened

South Wales Police says officers responded to reports of “safeguarding concerns” when a child left the nursery without the knowledge of staff, and that it is investigating.

Care Inspectorate Wales says it cannot comment while inquiries are ongoing, but will take “any necessary action” to keep children safe.

“Where concerns are raised, we work to ensure providers meet the national minimum standards for regulated childcare, which include specific requirements on safeguarding, premises security and child protection,” it said. “We would encourage anyone with concerns about the care of a child to contact CIW directly.”

Children and young people can talk to Childline about anything, free and in confidence, on 0800 1111.