A little boy left behind at a safari park after a Fife school trip says he wasn’t scared because he kept himself busy on a pirate ship.
Owen Paterson, five, had been on a school outing to Blair Drummond Safari Park along with other pupils from Pitcorthie Primary and Nursery in Dunfermline.
The family say they are “very angry” after teachers failed to spot he hadn’t boarded his bus home.
Incredibly, the mistake was only realised when the party got back to Dunfermline.
His frantic mother Amanda, 28, and a group of teachers rushed back to the park, where, thankfully, Owen had been found by a security guard.
Despite being at the centre of a story that will make every parent shudder, Owen himself seems unfazed.
He said: “I wasn’t scared because I was brave.
“I went on a pirate ship and on the big slide and then the man with the white jumper and walkie talkie found me and took me to the restaurant.
“I was happy to see my mummy again.”
Owen’s gran Sandra McQueen branded the trip a “shambles” and said her family are demanding “answers from the school”.
Fife Council chiefs have launched a major investigation into the blunder.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Courier or try our digital edition.