A grandad in China will not be handling school pick ups again any time soon after he accidentally took the wrong boy home from school, with a stop for a flu vaccination on the way home.

The parents of the six-year-old boy from Guiyang, Guizhou province, were shocked to be told their son Xiao had been picked up from school by an old man on Friday afternoon.

The parents were shown CCTV footage from the school showing the elderly man leaving with their boy.

The desperate mother quickly shared the images on her WeChat "Moments" account, a popular social media platform in China.

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She feared her child had been abducted.

Luckily, it was not that kind of tragic story.

An old schoolmate of hers recognised her own dad in the photos and the mystery was solved.

The grandad was meant to be picking up his own grandson - the son of the woman's old schoolmate - but got confused and took the wrong boy home.

Xiao was missing for a total of four hours, during which "grandad" took him food shopping and even to the hospital for a flu vaccination.

Family speaking to police later clarified the man was visiting from the countryside and was not very familiar with his grandson's appearance.

The boy reportedly tried to tell the man he was not his grandson but, because of his hearing impairment, the man did not understand him.

The teacher also said the mistake happened because, when asked who the man picking him up was, Xiao responded with "grandad".

"In the eyes of a six-year-old, every old man is grandad," many commented on Weibo.