A four-year-old Ramsgate boy was taken home by a stranger after he walked half a mile out of school on his first day without any staff noticing.

Little Jensen Hart was found playing in the street by a concerned passer-by, who asked him where he lived and escorted him safely to his house.

His father Gary was astonished when he answered a knock on his door at 1pm and saw his son standing there with the mystery woman.

He claimed staff at Newington Community Primary, in Princess Margaret Avenue, had no idea the youngster was missing until he called them.

But the school said Jensen, of Kimberley Road, had joined a group of parents as they left the playground.

Mr Hart, 35, said: "We had a knock on the door. It was some lady we'd never seen before and she had Jensen with her, which shocked us completely.

"She said he was playing in the street. He told her where he lived and she brought him home."

Shaken mother Michelle Butters, 28, said: "Anything could have happened."

Head teacher Cliff Stokes admitted the incident "shouldn't have happened", but said the boy was "at no stage on his own".

"All three adults who were walking out with Jensen looked at each other and thought he was with the other..." - head teacher Cliff Stokes

He said: "There was an unfortunate incident where a child managed to leave the school premises by joining a group of parents leaving the playground.

"All three adults who were walking out with Jensen looked at each other and thought he was with the other.

"When they realised he was on his own they were only about 20 or 30 yards from the school. One of them came back to alert the school and another followed him home.

"We knew within a matter of minutes. He was at no stage on his own. A parent from the school followed him home.

"The fact is a parent ensured the child's safety until he got home. But we know it shouldn't have happened.

"I phoned the parents immediately and explained the situation and invited them to come up to the school. The mother came up to the school within 20 minutes, but the father declined. The first thing I did was apologise."

Mr Stokes said parents from the nursery come to drop their children off at a gate at the school at lunchtimes.

He added the school now has two people on the gate and any child leaving the premises would be challenged by a member of staff.

Jensen returned to school on Monday morning with his three siblings after the incident on Friday.

His parents have complained to Kent County Council and are demanding a "proper apology" from the school.

Mr Hart said he and his partner were about to go out for lunch when they heard a knock at the door.

He said: "I asked him what he was doing there and he said, 'I wanted to come home.' When I phoned at 1pm they didn't know he was missing.

"If he wandered out of our house and was found down the shops I would have social services straight round, wouldn't I...?" - Jensen's father Gary Hart

"I asked the headmaster 'Why is he sitting at home? Why is he in our living room?'

"I hung up on him because I was that angry - I didn't want to talk to him."

Mr Hart, who works at Tesco, or Michelle always walk Jensen to school with his brother and two sisters and Jensen followed the same route on the way home.

He added: "Anything could have happened in those 10 minutes he was walking home. He crossed two main roads. It's really scary.

"It could have been so terrible. You give the school your children to look after and they've failed in that.

"If he wandered out of our house and was found down the shops I would have social services straight round, wouldn't I?

"He had to come out of his playground, into the main playground and then out the main gate.

"It's a massive lapse. You can't get much worse really."