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

This is the shocking moment a two-year-old boy crossed the road alone after escaping from his childhood room.

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

Surveillance footage shows the toddler following a man from Tame Street, where the nursery is located, to Quebec Street, on the other side of the road, and further down the sidewalk leading to a busy main road. As Harvey walks slowly down the road, a woman is caught running after him.

Shannan said a concerned woman saw him crossing the road alone, called police and informed her of the incident.

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

But since then, Shannan doesn’t want him to go back and also revealed that she’s “struggling” with the idea of ​​strangers taking care of 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, following their investigation, that the toddler has been “missing for less than a minute” and that it is working with Ofsted and local authorities to investigate what happened.

Shannan Lees, 24, will not allow Harvey (both pictured) to return to his old nursery in Denton, Greater Manchester, as he ‘could have ended up dead’ had a passerby 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 being 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. Last Friday I got a call after 4:30 pm saying he had escaped from the nursery and had been found by someone.

“I was screaming on the phone, I was just in shock. I ran downstairs and the woman who stopped and ran after Harvey was also there waiting.

“My partner got CCTV footage from a neighbor and you can see Harvey following a man crossing the road ahead of him.

“Then he crosses the road himself and continues on the sidewalk to Quebec Street, which opens onto a busy main road.

“It’s so scary to think what could have happened to him. He could have been hit by a car or dead. I don’t like to think about it.

“You entrust your child’s life to responsible adults and now I’m worried about doing that again. I think I’d have a hard time leaving him with someone else after this.

‘It is important that people are made aware that these kinds of things can happen. I wouldn’t want another parent to go through this because the outcome could be much worse. It’s terrible to think about it.’

Ofsted has confirmed it is aware of an incident but said it is awaiting further information from the relevant authorities and is therefore unable to comment.

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

In response to this, Sky High (pictured, which is behind a gate on the left, while the sign for the nursery can be seen on the right) after their investigation, said after their investigation the toddler was “missing for less than a minute” and that it is working with Ofsted and the local authorities to investigate what happened

Sky High Achievers Nursery Bungalow said such an incident had “never happened before” and that it has “taken immediate steps to improve security”, including installing CCTV cameras and new locks and cameras on gates.

A spokesperson added: ‘This was an unfortunate incident, which has never happened before.

Fortunately, the child was not injured on this occasion, and based on our investigation, we believe he was missing for less than a minute.

“We sincerely apologize to his family and have contacted them to check on all of them as this has understandably caused some concern.

“We take the safety of all children in our care very seriously and immediately contacted Ofsted and the local authorities when this happened in accordance with our safety protocols.

“We will continue to work with both Ofsted and the local government on our investigations.

“We also immediately took steps to improve security throughout the nursery, including the installation of CCTV in the playground and internal rooms and the installation of new locks and cameras on the gates.

“As part of the Ofsted investigation, we will review our systems and protocols to ensure our security is as good as possible going forward.”