A baby had to be rescued after ending up locked in a car.

A mum was trying to put her shopping away when her Renault Clio suddenly locked itself with her 18-month-old son still inside.

Firefighters were called out to the Sainsbury's car park, at the Avenue of Remembrance, Sittingbourne, and freed the child with a specialist car entry kit called the Big Easy.

A spokesman for Sittingbourne Fire Station said: “The keys had still been the car as the mum was transferring her shopping to the boot.

"It took us 10 minutes to get the child out using specialist equipment to avoid damaging the car.”

The mum, aged in her 30s, was said to have been shaken by the ordeal.

She was comforted by members of the public who witnessed the incident, which happened at 9.20am yesterday.