A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl wandered out of school and dodged cars on four busy roads in an attempt to walk home to her mum.

Khadija Shah went walkabout yesterday afternoon, during her first full day at St Silas Infant School, Blackburn.

The confused toddler wandered across New Bank Road, St Silas's Road, Leamington Road and Lynwood Road before arriving home at the end of her 15-minute journey.

Now Khadija's angry mother, who only began teaching her how to cross the road days before the incident, is demanding to know why the school gates were left open and why staff did not notice her daughter was missing.

The toddler left school during afternoon playtime and arrived home at 2.15pm, while her mother was still at work and her father, who works nights, was asleep in bed.

She was eventually spotted crying by a neighbour in Lynwood Road, who contacted the school and staff came to pick her up.

It is believed the child was returned to school in time to join fellow pupils for the remaining afternoon classes. Khadija's mother Zahida said: "Anything could have happened to her but when my neighbour contacted the school they didn't know she was missing.

"I was at work thinking she was safe but she wasn't. She could have been knocked down or dragged off by a stranger. There are so many bad people around these days and there have been so many terrible incidents at schools it is no wonder parents all over the country want school security to be tightened."

Zahida said her daughter, who had been going to school in the mornings for two weeks before her first full day, probably left because she thought it was time to go home.

She added: "The school gates were open. My sons have gone to the same school and they say the gates are often open because the boys run out to retrieve their footballs. Anyone could go in and out of them."

The head teacher at St Silas Infant School is on sick leave and nobody was available to comment on the incident in her absence.

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