Police rescue baby left in car

A couple who left their baby alone in a car say they were surprised to emerge from a shop to find police holding their child.

Concerned by-standers called 111 after spotting the baby alone in a car outside the Farmers store in Rotorua. They were worried the child was hot and on its own.

Police broke into the car and rescued the baby but called for St John Ambulance as they were worried the baby appeared hot and dehydrated.

The baby's father told the Daily Post he was surprised police had been called. Jeff Seo said he went inside the store to buy a baby's trolley, leaving his wife in the car with the child.

He wasn't sure which trolley to buy so called her on her mobile phone asking her to come inside to have a look.

He claimed she was only away from the car for about five minutes and they had left three of the four windows slightly down.

Mr Seo said the couple were walking out of the store when they saw the police holding their baby. "I was surprised ... it was only like one minute."

Senior Sergeant Dennis Murphy said although the parents were not likely to face charges, the incident would be referred to Child, Youth and Family.

"The condition of the child did not indicate it had been in the car for a short period of time," he said.

St John Ambulance acting area manager Rob Andrews said ambulance staff treated the child at Farmers and took it to Rotorua Hospital for a check up.

The child was later found not to be suffering from any heat exhaustion.

Bystanders in the Farmers carpark said they were shocked the parents had left the child.

One woman said she saw the baby being carried by the police officer and noticed its head was wet.

A Tipu Ora spokeswoman, who did not want to be named, said children simply shouldn't be left in cars at all - even for a few minutes.

Leaving children unsupervised in a car raised several safety issues including the effects of heat, what children might get up to while waiting for someone to return and the potential for them to hurt themselves or even be kidnapped, she said.

Metservice forecaster Cameron Coutts said Rotorua's temperature reached 19C yesterday.

He said at this time of year the weather was often changeable and could go from being cold in the morning to "pretty hot" fairly rapidly.

Mr Murphy said the parents' shock of finding emergency services tending to their baby was a timely reminder to parents as well as animal owners not to leave their children and pets in their cars alone.

"With the warmer weather coming on, this should be a lesson to everyone to take precautions. Interiors of cars can heat up quite quickly and it can be dangerous for young children and pets," he said.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)