Two-year-old found in grit bin after going missing at nursery

A toddler who went missing at his nursery in Edinburgh was found inside a closed grit bin in the playground.

The two-year-old boy was missing for an hour from the Maybury Primary Early Learning and Childcare Centre on Turnhouse Road in the north west of the city.

By the time his mother came to pick him up at 12:00 on 16 January, the police had been called.

Council leader Jane Meagher said urgent changes had been made to prevent this happening again.

After an hour-long search of the nursery rooms and playground, the child was discovered inside the yellow bin on the playground.

The Scotsman reported his mother, who has not been named, was "traumatised" by the incident which left her son "cold, shivering and disorientated" and covered in grit inside the closed bin.

The boy was taken to hospital, where he was found to have elevated salt levels in his blood, and was discharged that evening.

Council leader Meagher said: "I was shocked to hear about this awful incident and can only imagine how frightening it must have been for the child's mother and family.

"I'm so sorry they had to go through this.

"It's simply unacceptable that such a young child could be unaccounted for and put at risk, particularly in a place where they should be safe and cared for."

She said urgent improvements had already been made at the nursery.

These include extra staff being deployed to monitor children in the playground, using CCTV and providing staff provided with "communication devices".

The grit bin has also been locked with a padlock and is now monitored every day by the school janitor.

Meagher add: "I am insisting that these are independently reviewed to make sure all lessons have been properly learned and that this can never be allowed to happen again."

All early years services in Scotland are required to notify the Care Inspectorate of any incidents where a child has left without a responsible adult.

A spokesperson for the watchdog told BBC Scotland it had been "appropriately notified of an incident involving a child at this nursery".

"A concern has also been raised with us about this service and we will consider all information given to us carefully, she said, adding that they would liaise with the service and provider and "take any further action as required".