A baby was discovered locked alone in a hot car at a car boot sale in Leeds while its parents reportedly went bargain hunting on a sunny day.
Police were called to the car boot sale off Otley Old Road in Bramhope after a young child was reported to have been left alone in a vehicle without any water, milk or food. The baby was found strapped into a car seat, according to witnesses.
Witness describes baby in 'VERY HOT car'
One Facebook user described the scene, writing: "Car boot sale nr Leeds/brad airport, when it was noticed a young baby alone in a VERY HOT car , alone - NO WATER, NO ADULT, NO MILK. Just strapped into a car seat and left whilst parents went bargain hunting !!!!!!!!!!GOD ONLY KNOWS FOR HOW LONG - but it took a good 30 minutes to get into the car, and another 30 awaiting police!!!!! Wardens attempted to find the car owner - and an hour later still no joy !!!! it is now 3 hours later and the police have caught up with a parent !"
The post has received nearly 1,000 comments, with others equally outraged at the situation.
Social media reaction
"Why did no one smash a window? People smash windows for dogs left In a car all the time not for a baby I wouldn’t have waited half an hour no way," wrote one Facebook user.
Another person said: "They got away with it too! As we was leaving we heard the copper say 'you don’t know how lucky you are to not be getting arrested'."
A third wrote: "That’s awful my car was like an oven this morning and I didn’t want to be in my car even with the windows open so god only knows how this little baby felt."
A fourth added: "Omg this is AWFUL. I apologise to my daughter for the first part of our journey for how hot the car is, while waiting for the AC to kick in! I cannot imagine leaving her in the car for even a minute. The fact they took 1 hour to even find the parents lord knows how long the poor baby was in there for. I hope this negligence is dealt with properly by authorities."
Police confirm no arrests
West Yorkshire Police confirmed no arrests had been made. A spokesman said: "Police were called to a car boot sale off Otley Old Road, Bramhope, at 9:44am yesterday (2 August) following reports of child neglect. This related to a child reportedly left in the back of a car alone. The child's parents were identified and spoken to by officers. Enquiries are continuing to establish what happened."
It was around 22 to 23C in Bramhope on Sunday when the incident happened, which means the inside of the parked car could have rapidly climbed past 38C in 10 minutes and exceeded 50C in the sun.
