A WINCHESTER mother has described her shock after her four-year-old son escaped on his first day at school and walked home alone.

The boy gave his teachers at South Wonston Primary School the slip after lunch because he wanted to go home and see his mum.

But after wandering out the gates of the village school, he crossed busy Downs Road and a side street before heading about half-a-mile home.

After finding nobody there, he took his bike out the garage and went to see a neighbour.

An alarmed female motorist, who had seen the young boy leave the school alone, followed him in her car and alerted the neighbour to his escape.

The neighbour then phoned his stunned mother — who asked not to be named — who was shopping in Romsey, and told her she had her son with her.

The mother said: “I was very shocked. I thought she was joking. It is one of those things you don’t ever expect to happen.

“I think he just got a bit fed up and decided that he had been at school long enough and he was coming home. He is a very intelligent boy.”

The mum said the boy told her he had unbolted a classroom door and gone through an unlocked side gate.

She added: “All I can think is what on earth was the school going to tell me at 3.15pm if he had been killed or abducted?”

When she arrived at the school, the boy was back in his reception class.

She was due to meet school staff again to discuss improved security arrangements.

The incident happened at about 1pm after his parents had dropped him off for his first day at school at 9am.

Jane Bundy, headteacher at South Wonston Primary School, said: “The safety and well-being of the children while they are at school is a priority and this incident is deeply distressing.

“We very quickly became aware of the matter which happened when parents were collecting reception children from a morning session, and fortunately the pupil was located within a few minutes.

“I have met with the mother and she has told me that she is satisfied with how this school dealt with the incident. Furthermore, we have reviewed and further strengthened the security of the school site.

“This is the first time an incident like this has occurred at our school, and I am confident that with the additional precautions we have implemented, this will not happen again.”