SECURITY has been tightened at a Tavistock nursery after a three-year-old girl walked out of the building, sparking a frantic search.
The child, who was attending the nursery of Tavistock Primary School, was discovered walking along Crowndale Road by a Tavistock College student.
Despite rigorous investigation the school said it cannot find out how the doors to the nursery were opened, allowing the little girl to get out.
In a newsletter to parents and carers the school has accepted that this was a very serious incident and that as a result it had put further measures in place to ensure the safety of the children.
The incident happened last month during an afternoon session.
Acting headteacher Laura Handel said: 'We already have a strict entry and exit policy in place to ensure the safety of children in the school, and our top priority is to provide a happy, safe and secure environment.
'We try our utmost to ensure that children understand the importance of keeping themselves safe, and we encourage parents to do the same.
'In addition, we need to ensure that the children are not only safe within the building but also that they can get out safely in the event of a fire or other emergency.'
She said this 'highly regrettable' incident happened when a teacher turned to deal with another child for a few moments.
The school is certain the doors had been closed and barred prior to this incident as they should have been and that no member of staff or child opened them.
'As soon as the child's absence was noticed an immediate search ensued,' said the headteacher. The girl was found walking along Crowndale Road by a college student.
'Following this incident we have further increased our security at the school, which now includes fitted alarms and a new fence around the nursery, as well as a school bib to identify pupils at the school.'
Eight new safety measures have been been listed in the school newsletter to make parents aware that every precaution is being taken. These measures have been approved by a health and safety officer.
A parent who has a child at the nursery said she had been shocked by the incident but she felt reassured by the measures that were being taken by the school to ensure it did not happen again.