News

A three-year-old boy had a narrow escape after slipping out of bed and getting his neck tangled up in the straps of a Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends bed tent while he slept.

Fortunately, parents Glen and Sarah Emery, of The Street, in Hawkinge, were able to free their youngest son, Toby, after being alerted by noises coming from his bedroom.

A shocked Mr Emery said: "If it had happened on a bunk bed or cabin bed then the outcome could have been far more serious because the child's feet would probably not have reached the floor.

"Fortunately Toby has a small single bed and is quite a strong boy so he managed to support himself with his feet until we could get there."

The play tent is attached to the four corners of the bed and has a door flap in the side. Toby's parents believe that their son became trapped after somehow falling out of the bed and getting his head caught between the door flap and the bed.

Mr Emery added that, following the tragic death of little Paige Brown on New Year's Day after she accidentally hanged herself from a toy hammock in her bedroom, he felt he had to speak out to warn other parents of the potential dangers of the fun tents.

He said: "If I said nothing about this and another child ended up dying because the same thing happened to them that almost happened to Toby I don't think I could live with myself.'

Toby's brother, Jacob, is a pupil at The Churchill School where four-year-old Paige was a pupil of the Reception class.

Head teacher Jennie Carter said: "Jacob's parents got in touch and we were all horrified to hear about their experience so we've prepared a letter to send home with all the children as a precautionary measure.'

The incident has been reported to the police and the family will be contacting Kent County Council's Trading Standards department about the play tent.