Police launch probe into grandfather after he accidently took home wrong child from daycare

However, he accidentally took home a different child, who was asleep in a dark room at the daycare in Bangor, Sydney in Australia.

The mistake only became clear when the mother of the child arrived at the centre to find that her one-year-old was not there.

Speaking to local press, the mother, who requested not to be named, said: "I can't explain the feeling.

"They couldn't tell me [the man's] name, they couldn't tell me who he was, they couldn't tell me who he was meant to pick up.

"They couldn't tell me what he looked like, apart from that he was wearing shorts and he was an older gentleman."

However, she made it clear she did not blame the grandfather, telling the paper: "We are not angry with him. We are not upset at him, we blame the daycare."

The grandfather's wife told the Sydney Morning Herald that he raced the child back quickly when he realised.

She added her husband was "devastated" and had "owned the mistake".

Nursery director Trisha Hastie told the BBC: "We sincerely apologise to the families directly involved in this deeply upsetting and isolated incident."

She added that it had never happened before at any of First Steps' nurseries, which had since strengthened procedures to "ensure this never happens again".

Ms Hastie said: "While we have always maintained strict protocols for drop-off and pick-up, in this case, those processes were not followed correctly.

"The educator involved has been stood down.

"We have acted immediately to strengthen our procedures and ensure this never happens again."

An investigation is under way into the "deeply concerning and serious incident", the New South Wales Early Childhood Education and Care Regulatory Authority said.