Toddler leaves mum on the wrong side of the door

A FORRES toddler was home alone for 45 minutes after locking his mother out of the house last week.

Olly Milton closed a door from the kitchen leading to the garage at their home in Knockomie Gardens, locking mum Rachel Rogerson (26) outside.

"I thought, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do?’," said Rachel. "I was worried about what he might do with the whole house to himself."

Rachel had been putting her recycling into the garage when the door shut behind her.

"I tried to get back in, and realised that 18-month-old Olly had actually turned the key and locked the door," she said. "I managed to get out through the front of the garage, but I still had no access to the house, because the doors and windows were locked too."

Rachel faced the nightmare situation of an unsupervised – and very mobile – toddler left to his own devices in the house. Fortunately, although she could not see Olly, she could hear him waiting behind the door he had shut.

Unfortunately, Rachel’s mobile phone was also inside the house, but when she saw a neighbour pull up in her car, she asked her for help.

"Rachel came over and explained that she was locked out, with Olly inside," said Jan Munro. "Another neighbour and I tried all of our own keys in the door, but none of them worked, so I called the fire brigade.

"Rachel was very calm throughout, because she didn’t want to frighten the wee one. I only met her for the first time the week before, but I know her a bit better now!"

A fire crew attended the scene immediately. "We ended up having to force entry," said Gordon Fyfe, manager of Forres Fire Station. "The toddler was upset, but fine, and glad to be reunited with his mum."

A spokesperson for the fire service said that fire-fighters got into the property by using a ladder to access a window.

"They were going to take the garage door off, but we couldn’t see Olly, so they climbed through a window and unlocked the door from inside," said Rachel. "Olly had been standing there the whole time. It was great to get him back safe."

"These types of incidents do occur, although they are very uncommon," said station manager for prevention and protection, Mike Cordiner. "Any situation where someone’s safety is at risk should be dealt with by contacting the emergency services.

"Rachel said that Olly has been walking since he was 11 months old, and climbs everywhere, including the coffee table, TV unit, sofa and stairs."

"We have spare keys now, just in case he ever tries to lock me out again!" said Rachel.

Olly was reunited with two of the fire crew on a visit to Forres Fire Station on Friday.