FIREFIGHTERS had to free a one-year-old child after he became locked in a car this afternoon.

A crew from St Mary’s were called to a Southampton car park at around 1.25pm where the boy had become trapped in the vehicle.

They were alerted after the mother placed her son on the rear passenger seat and put her bag and keys on the front seat then shut the doors, when somehow the central locking activated.

A firefighter smashed a small window at the front of the car as far away from the child as possible and then reached in to release the internal locking.

The boy had been trapped in the John Lewis pick up collection point at the bottom level of WestQuay car park, for about half an hour and it took firefighters around 10 minutes to get him out.

He was unhurt.

Crew manager Paul O’Donovan, from St Mary’s station, said: “He was in the shade and it was the bottom of the car park.

“Physically I don’t think he was that uncomfortable, but he was a little bit agitated.”