Moment toddler runs across the road on his own after escaping nursery

Shocking moment two-year-old boy is seen running across the road on his own after escaping from nursery as his mother, 24, warns: ‘He could’ve ended up dead’

• Shannan Lees, 24, said son ‘could’ve ended up dead’ after crossing road alone
• She has since taken her two-year-old out of the nursery and needs another one
• Shannan claims nurseries have waiting lists and is ‘struggling’ to find another 

This is the shocking moment a two-year-old boy was seen running across the road on his own after escaping from his nursery. 

Shannan Lees, 24, will not let Harvey return to his old nursery in Denton, Greater Manchester, as he ‘could’ve ended up dead’ had a passer-by not intervened and rescued her son on Friday. 

CCTV footage shows the toddler following a man from Tame Street, where the nursery is located, onto Quebec Street, the other side of the road, and continuing up the pavement which leads to a busy main road. As Harvey slowly walks down the road a woman then is captured running after him.

Shannan said a concerned woman spotted him crossing the road by himself and rang the police and informed her the incident. 

Harvey was returned to Sky High Achievers The Bungalow day nursery, on Ashton Road and was later picked up by his ‘shocked’ mother. 

But since then Shannan does not want him to go back and also revealed that she is ‘struggling’ with the idea of strangers looking after her child again. She also cannot find other services to take him due to long waiting lists in the area. 

In response, Sky High said, after their investigations, that the toddler been ‘missing for less than a minute’ and it is working with Ofsted and the local authorities to look into what happened. 

CCTV footage shows the toddler near his nursery going across Quebec Street and continuing up the pavement which leads to a busy main road

Shannan Lees, 24, will not let Harvey (both pictured) return to his old nursery in Denton, Greater Manchester as he ‘could’ve ended up dead’ had a passer-by not intervened and rescued her son on Friday

Shannan told Manchester Evening News that she thought the nursery would be a good fit for Harvey after it was highly recommended by a friend but has since changed her mind. 

She 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. 

Harvey was returned to Sky High Achievers The Bungalow day nursery, on Ashton Road and was later picked up by his ‘shocked’ mother

In response, Sky High (pictured, which is behind a gate on left as the sign for the nursery is seen on right) said, after their investigations, that the toddler been ‘missing for less than a minute’ and it is working with Ofsted and the local authorities to look into what happened

Sky High Achievers The Bungalow day 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 added: ‘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.’

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