Passengers on an Edinburgh bus service were left panic-stricken after a mum got off and left her toddler son behind.
Fellow bus-riders looked on in horror as the woman left the bus on Edinburgh's Niddrie Mains Road leaving the little boy on a single seat at the front of the vehicle.
The child was said to have been 'howling' once he realised his mum had gone without him.
The woman reportedly had two other young children with her when she got off.
As other passengers tried to console the little boy, a woman on board told the driver she was a social worker and offered to take the toddler back to his mum.
An unnamed passenger told the Scottish Daily Record that the driver subsequently got clearance from his bosses for the woman to remove the child from the bus.
"The child was howling and a couple of young lads asked if he was OK, which raised the alarm," the onlooker said.
"A lady on the bus claimed to be a social worker and she told the driver that she would reunite the child with its mother. The driver then radioed his control room and asked if it was OK for this person to do this."
The driver reportedly then pulled the bus over and the social worker got off with the little boy and walked back to meet his mother.
A spokesman for Lothian Buses said everyone had done 'the right thing' during 'a very difficult situation'.
It is not known if social services followed up the incident.