A hero postie rushed to save a toddler standing in the middle of a main road – after the little girl had walked out of a nearby nursery unnoticed.

Leanne Porter has told how she sprinted from her van to grab the youngster, who had somehow ended up 500 yards from Bossingham Pre-School, near Canterbury.

The terrifying incident, shortly after 11.30am on Monday, has been reported to police, Ofsted and Kent County Council.

Ms Porter, 39, told KentOnline a car would not have seen the child as she was standing “as stiff as a board” on the corner of Bossingham Road.

The horrified postal worker says the girl could have been run over or abducted – and the ordeal has left her “very upset”.

The drama unfolded after Ms Porter arrived in Bossingham on Monday morning, where she was due to make a special delivery.

The former nursery worker and teaching assistant had spotted a fellow postie outside the gates of the nursery and pulled over to say hello.

She said: “We were chatting for a minute, but then he said ‘why is there a child in the road?’.

“I jumped out of my van and shouted at the child to get out of the road.”

Ms Porter says the child was two years old and “didn’t know what to do or what we were saying”.

“I sprinted from my van running down the middle of the road and grabbed the little girl, who stood as stiff as a board,” she said.

As Ms Porter picked up the youngster and checked she was OK, she says the child just smiled at her.

The girl was wearing a Bossingham Pre-School uniform so Ms Porter took her inside the nearby nursery, which is based behind Stelling Minnis C Of E Primary School.

The Royal Mail worker asked a group of women at the pre-school if the child was in their care and a manager came to the door.

She says she asked if the girl had been checked into the nursery that day, and it was confirmed she had signed in at 9.05am.

“A car would not have seen her as she was on the corner in the middle of the road,” Ms Porter added.

“The child got quite far. For an adult, it wouldn’t take that long to walk that distance, but she is two years old.

“She could’ve been abducted or ended up wandering off into the woods...”

“The little girl could’ve been run over, or picked up by someone who wasn’t a nice person.

“She could’ve been abducted or ended up wandering off into the woods.

“She could’ve been anywhere, but at what point would they have found that out?”

Ms Porter says a bus went past moments after the child was returned to the nursery.

“It is a bus route and it has big vehicles on the road,” she said. “Anything could’ve hit the little girl.

“If anything had hit a two-year-old, if it was at 20mph or 50mph, something is more likely to go drastically wrong.

“If it was me, my son would not be going back to the nursery.

“It has made me very upset and it is horrible.”

The incident has been reported to the relevant authorities.

A police spokesman said: "We were called at 3.22pm on Monday to make us aware of a child found unaccompanied and returned to safety in Bossingham Road earlier that day at about 11.30am. No crime has been reported.”

Meanwhile, a KCC spokesman said: “The pre-school took appropriate action in notifying our safeguarding team and other relevant agencies of the incident and no further action is required by KCC at this time.”

Bossingham Pre-School refused to comment but its website states: “Our front gate has a security entrance system and our setting is within the secure grounds of the primary school.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said it did not comment on individual providers but did confirm it had been notified of the incident.