Child found locked in car in Pāpāmoa

A toddler was found locked in a car this morning. Photo / Andrew Warner

A child was found locked in a car at a carpark in Pāpāmoa this morning.

A police spokesperson confirmed police were called to a commercial address on Gravatt Rd, Pāpāmoa about 10.40am, after reports of a child left unattended in a vehicle.

Police were making inquiries.

Metservice was showing the outside temperature in Tauranga as 26.8C.

A staff member who worked at Fashion Island, who asked not to be named, said she became aware of the sleeping toddler in the unattended sedan after someone came in looking for the driver.

"People were concerned that the car was locked and only one window was partially down," she said.

The staff member said when she went out to look there were several people around the car trying to help.

The toddler, believed to be aged 2, was in a carseat in the backseat facing the sun, with the window shade down and the window shut.

The staff member said she understood a woman returned to the car about 20 to 25 minutes later.