Shocked parents have slammed a Swindon nursery for "serious safeguarding issues" after they were told their four-year-old was left unsupervised for half an hour.

Terri Ward and Ricky Bradford, from Moredon, were horrified to find out from other parents that their son, Colby, was left outside in the play area alone for around 30 minutes at Swindon Academy's nursery in May.

The school told the Adver that it has "resolved" the issue with Colby's parents and did not want to comment further.

But the couple revealed they have since pulled Colby out of the nursery as they don't believe he is safe there.

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"It's a serious safeguarding issue. Anything could have happened to him," Terri says. 

"He could have hit his head or choked on a stone or had sun stroke.

"If he'd fallen over and cut his head, nobody would have known any different.

"Colby is the one missing out on his education. We didn't feel he was safe because of the seriousness of the situation."

Colby has a rare overgrowth syndrome known as Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome so he is at an increased risk of developing tumours. It also means he grows more quickly; aged four, he is just under 4ft tall.

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Because of his health condition, mum Terri believes it's a "worry" when teachers don't keep consider her son's welfare.

"He's not inconspicious. It should be noticeable if he's not there but they didn't clock it."

Terri and Ricky are particularly upset because they claim the school made no efforts to inform them of what had happened.

They say they only found out about the incident from the parents of an older girl who spotted him alone in the playground.

"The teacher didn't even know he was missing until these parents notified reception and then they got him inside five minutes before pick-up," Terri added.

"My partner had to approach the teacher and he just said 'I know, I'm sorry'.

"Apparently they normally do a headcount but clearly it didn't happen that time.

"It's absolutely disgusting how they have handled the situation.

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"It's shocking how they're treating us.

"I worry about other times before if they weren't going to tell us about Colby."

Colby used to attend the nursery at Swindon Academy from 8.30am to 11.30am. 

Terri and Ricky have now taken him out of the nursery as they believe the issue was not adequately resolved.