A woman was given strong words of advice after leaving three children in a car for more than 40 minutes on the hottest day of the year.

Police were called to Waterfields Shopping Centre, Watford, around 12.40pm on Monday after receiving reports of three children locked in a white Nissan Qashqai, parked in a disabled bay outside the shop's entrance.

The children were aged between seven and one.

The incident happened on Monday, the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching around 33.4 degrees.

Within an hour a car can reach nearly twice as hot as the temperature outside.

Staff at the Next branch in the retail park appealed over loudspeakers in the car park for the woman to return to her car.

The woman apparently did not hear or heed them and carried on shopping for more than half an hour, it has been claimed.

Officers eventually freed the children and the driver returned to her car, which was parked in a disabled bay outside the store, after shopping for the entire time.

Police have given the woman "strong words of advice" following the incident.

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “When left alone in a vehicle, young children can very quickly start to get anxious and distressed and there are clear added dangers when temperatures are extremely hot as has been the case this week.

“We always advise parents and carers never to leave babies, toddlers and very young children alone – whether in a vehicle or at home.”