Little Legends Pre-School in Rowley Regis has shut its doors whilst it investigates how four young children managed to escape and head towards a busy road after supervisors assumed a gate locked.

One of the children was reportedly found in the middle of the busy Dudley Road, although bosses at the pre-school said they hadn't confirmed that was the case. Owner, Matt Lee, said he had taken the decision to close the doors temporarily and that disciplinary action could follow.

He revealed to the Express and Star that staff who were on duty had believed the gate to be locked - but had only looked at it rather than physically checking.

34-year-old Kerry Arrowsmith’s son was one of the children who managed to get out. She told the paper that she was ‘horrified’ and that her son, who is aged three, would not be going back to the pre-school. She said:

“One of the children was found on Dudley Road. A member of the public stopped their car and took him into the building. I was devastated.

"I didn’t want him to go to nursery, you just hope something like this never happens. It’s horrifying, I can’t describe it. I don’t know how they can’t notice almost half their children going missing.”

Mr Lee said the children were out of the pre-school for a ‘very short time’ and they had been in an outside play area before heading out of the gate. He added that Ofsted had been notified about the incident.