Boy (4) found half a mile away after walking out of Fife nursery

The child managed to open the main entrance doors to Carelton Nursery in Glenrothes before walking out of the building.

The youngster then managed to reach Woodside Way before using a pedestrian crossing and proceeding past the Lomond Centre.

He was eventually found as he entered the A92 underpass by his mother who was on her way to pick him up.

The serious breach of security at the nursery happened at around 3pm on Thursday, April, 20.

Jacqueline Price, Education and Children’s Services acting head of service (early years), said: “Last week a child managed to open the security door at one of our nurseries by climbing up to reach the magnetic release.”

It’s remains unclear as to how long the child had been missing before staff were alerted, though Jaxcueline Price added: “The child had only been out of staff’s sight for a short time, which is normal as children move between the garden and nursery rooms.

“We’re very sorry for the distress this has caused the family.

“I’d like to reassure our nursery community that safety and security of our children is our top priority.

“We’re reviewing the incident and nursery processes to make sure it cannot happen again.”

Reports that door mechanisms at the nursery were faulty and were a contributory factor in the incident have been ruled out by Fife Council

Jacqueline Price said: “While there have been intermittent problems with the spring on the door, this was not a factor in last week’s incident.

“Tradesmen have been to the nursery to repair the door but, once again, this is not linked to the unfortunate events of last week.”