The child was sitting at the back of the bus and did not get off when it arrived at her school. She was not noticed by the supervisor who was there to look after the pupils.

Website ladepeche.fr reported that panic set in when the mother of the girl arrived at the school to collect her daughter. She said “the teacher came to tell me that he hadn’t seen her all day. I’d dropped her off at 6.30 with her child minder who then put her on the bus at 8.30.”

When the driver returned to take the bus on the school run home at 4pm, he found her still sitting there. She had apparently sat with her seatbelt attached for the entire day without eating or drinking anything.

“I’m just relieved we weren’t having a heatwave” he said. “That would have been a real drama.”

Police in Saint-Calais have opened an inquiry into the incident.