Terrifying moment toddler, 3, almost gets run over after escaping from nursery

CCTV images capture the terrifying moment a toddler ran down a busy high street. James, 3, escaped from the playground at Elmhurst House Day Nursery in Stone, Staffordshire through a broken fence post. He then stunned drivers after walking across a road full of cars, before heading off down another street. Video footage showed the adventurous toddler standing in the middle of a crossing on the A520 for 23 seconds before running further into the town. Staff from the nursery eventually caught up with him and brought him back to safety. The toddler started running down the middle of a street (Image: CCTV) However, his parents criticised the nursery for failing in its duty of care and have since removed James from the kindergarten. His mum Fiona Maguire, 46, who has two other children, told the Stoke Sentinel: “He was standing there in the road for ages. “There were failures in the care and safeguarding of my son, and this could easily have ended in the most appalling tragedy.” She revealed the the nursery had failed to contact them at the time and that the family had been left in an “absolute blind panic”. Elmhurst House said in a statement that they have launched an immediate investigation into the incident and have taken urgent steps to tighten security. The nursery said its staff were “shocked and distressed” at what had happened, adding: “We regard this event as our responsibility and our failure. The central road was busy with cars (Image: CCTV) “It should never be possible for a child to escape in this way, whatever the circumstances.” The next day after the incident on May 16, officials from Ousted visited the kindergarten. They ordered an overhaul of welfare measures at the nursery, including improvements to risk assessments and staffing ratios. Ofsted said it would continue to monitor the nursery to ensure it carried out all of its recommendations. In a follow-up visit on June 6th, Ofsted inspectors said staff showed a “clearer understanding of the role they play”, as a result of actions taken by the management. Ofsted said in a statement the new measures should ensure “children can be kept safe from harm”. They added: “We are satisfied the provider has met the safeguarding and welfare actions raised.” Staffordshire County Council said it had liaised with Ofsted in response to the “very upsetting incident”, while Staffordshire Police left the inquiry to Ofsted. The force said this afternoon: “We received a report on 24 May 2023 about a three-year-old boy who had gone missing from a nursery in Stone on 16 May. “Officers carried out enquiries and left the inquiry in the care of the regulator Ofsted.”