Barefoot and alone: Not the first time toddlers seen walking on busy Dunedin street

The three children aged 4, 3 and 2 were found by members of the public walking in Andersons Bay Rd about 5.30am. Image / Google

A trio of young children found wandering barefoot around South Dunedin early yesterday may have been involved in a similar incident five days earlier.

The three children, all aged under 5, were found alone in Andersons Bay Rd about 5.30am yesterday.

Aged 4, 3 and 2, the children were found by members of the public who contacted police.

Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen, of Dunedin, said police took them back to a Melbourne St property where a man, understood to be their father, was home.

The incident has been referred to Oranga Tamariki.

A similar incident, involving three young children, happened on Friday morning but was not reported to police at the time.

A Dunedin man, who did not want to be named, said he was walking to the gym just before 6am on Friday when he saw three children - two boys and a girl - walking alone near the corner of Macandrew Rd and Fingall St.

He believed they were the same children found in Andersons Bay Rd yesterday.

One of the children told him their father had gone to work.

They did not seem to be in any distress and were lightly dressed in what could be described as pyjamas or bed attire.

A woman who saw the children earlier, on her way home from working night-shift, returned to check on them and eventually take them home.

The man did not have her details or know where she had taken them.

As he did not have his cellphone with him he did not report the incident and was unsure if the woman had contacted the police.

A police spokeswoman said they were aware of the second incident and would like to hear from the woman involved.