TWO three-year-old children 'escaped' from a nursery in Chadwell St Mary and wandered around local roads before being discovered by a resident and a window cleaner.

The potentially disastrous scenario played out late yesterday morning (Friday, 24 February) and into the afternoon and has provoked an outcry from parents.

The children were attending Acorns Pre-school which is based at the Scout Hall, which is on an alley off Waterson Road.

Just before noon yesterday a resident on Waterson Road saw a three year old boy crying beside the road. She recognised him as a tot that attended the school and walked the child back there.

Meanwhile, a couple of hundred yards away on Sabina Road, window cleaner Mark Ward - himself a dad - spotted three-year-Abigail Hartnoll wandering along the roadside on her own.

He took her into his care and together with others, walked her back to the nursery where a crowd of parents had gathered to collect their children.

Abi was handed back to the care of nursery manager Julie Storr but the incident rapidly became a talking point among concerned parents.

Abi's mum Louise had received a phone call from Ms Storr, saying there had been an 'incident' and she arrived at the entrance shortly afterwards.

Louise told Thurrock Nub News what happened: "I was at home when I got the call when Julie called me saying there had been an incident, but everything was alright.

"I went to the nursery where a crowd was gathered and there was some shouting going on. a man, who I later learned was the gentleman who had found and returned Abi was trying to speak to the staff.

"I was ushered through, and Julie told me that Abi had manged to get out.

"It is believed, she said, that she had crawled under a fence and then Abi showed me how she had done it.

"Julie said she was going to complain to the scouts about the fencing. She appeared to be playing the incident down.

"She told me they had done a roll call at 11.25 when the children went out to play and another at 11.35 when they found that one was missing.

"At that point I was being told that just one child, Abi, had gone missing, but then another mum came in, having been talking to other parents and she said that her child, a three year old boy had also escaped and been brought back.

"I couldn't believe that Julie hadn't told me that.

Acorns pre-school where two children crawled under fencing to 'escape'

"And then when we looked into it and found out how far away Abi had been, it just didn't add up.

"Abi had been out for a lot longer, she had crossed roads three times and got to Sabina Road. That couldn't have taken ten minutes.

"I seems to me they only did a roll call when the first boy was brought back, then they discovered Abi was missing.

"I am very, very angry and upset by this, firstly that it should happen, then that appears the nursey and Julie are playing it down.

"I dread to think what might have happened.

"I am so grateful to Mark for what he did. I will not be taking Abi back to the nursery and I will be contacting the council and Ofsted about this. I understand the police have also been contacted, I did get a call from a police officer who had spoken to the nursery but they cannot get involved because no crime happened. They have, however, said that parents with concerns should take them to Ofsted."

Nub News has contacted Ms Storr but we have had no response. Nor has Acorns made any comment on local social media where the story has been recounted. Many other parents including the mother of the boy, who had autistic and speech difficulties, have commented.

The boy's mother says she had not been contacted by the nursery to be told her child had got out and only found out from other parents when she arrived to collect her child.

The mum of the second child has also spoken to Thurrock Nub News.

She said: "I showed up at the preschool at 12 expecting to pick up my son as normal, but instead I had to find out from other parents that he had gone missing and the preschool didn't even notice that he was gone, for roughly half an hour.

"I've come to learn that he was returned to the preschool around 11.45am by the people that found him crying outside their house.

"The preschool had an opportunity to call me and tell me what had happened, they chose not too.

"I believe they didn't tell me because my son is autistic and mostly non-verbal. He wouldn't have been able to tell what had happened himself, so they chose not to tell me.

"It makes me wonder if he (or any other kids) have escaped before and they haven't told anyone."

This is not the first time the nursery has been criticised for a lack of communication.

On the Ofsted website, where the nursery's only full inspection in 2017 rates it as 'good' a complaint is recorded from last year.

It says: "On 2 November 2022 we received concerns that the provider was not meeting some of these requirements.

"On 21 November 2022 we carried out a regulatory telephone call. We found that the provider failed to meet their legal responsibility, as set out in the Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage, to notify Ofsted of a serious accident or injury to a child while in their care, and of the action taken.

"However, following the discussion with the provider, we are satisfied that following the accident/injury the provider did take appropriate action to keep children safe and meet their needs.

"The provider will be able to give parents further information about this. The provider is still registered with Ofsted."