Janet Threader's nightmare began when she went to pick up her children Conor, aged five, and Chloe, aged eight, from the CVS-run scheme at Saxons Fields in Greenbank, last Friday.

But when she arrived 10 minutes early at 12.20pm there was no-one on the site.

She later found her distraught youngsters near a busy road on their way home.

"I think it's absolutely disgusting, anything could have happened. My little boy was hysterical, he thought I'd left him," said Janet, of Greenbank Lane.

Janet claims the playleader told the children they would be going home early and asked if their parents were in.

"How can you send children home at 12noon without checking that the parents are in? How can you rely on what an eight-year-old says," added Janet.

Arthur Neil, of the CVS (Council for Voluntary Services) said that the children had been sent home early because they were going to the cinema in the afternoon.

He said: "The playleader has apologised. She realises it was a mistake.

"The children were sure that someone was in. It was a genuine mistake. The playleader acted in good faith believing someone was in."

He added: "The children are sent home anyway if it is raining because there are no facilities for us to use - so we would expect parents not to go out."

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