A council has apologised to a mum after her son was accidentally locked inside a public toilet block by a member of staff.

The young boy had to be rescued after being locked in by a council contractor who did not check inside the toilet before shutting it for the night.

The incident happened at the toilet block opposite Maldon Library, in White Horse Lane.

The boy’s horrified mother called for help and thankfully was heard by a customer at nearby Men’s Barbers.

Owner Wesley Heard, friend Jack Wheeler and two other men rushed to the scene after the alarm was raised.

Mr Heard said: “One of the lads in the shop went out to get something from the shops and then he came running in to tell us there was a woman outside going up and down the street calling for help because her boy was in the toilets.

“We saw the mum outside – she was frantic. She was with a postman and a lady.

“The little boy, who cannot have been more than 11, had somehow managed to climb up to the top window and get it open, but there was no way he could get out on his own.

“Before we knew it Jack was up trying to get him out.

"I gave him boost up to the window and he climbed slightly through and pulled the little boy out.”

It took just a minute for the barbershop quartet to free the scared youngster.

Mr Heard said he was just happy he and his friends could help.

He added: “I cannot imagine how terrifying it could have been for that little boy in there.

“It was not nice for his mum and if I was in the same situation and it was my daughter in there, I’d hope someone would do the same for her.

“We would have broken the door down if we had to.

“We were not waiting around for the council to come and get him out.”

Maldon District Council has made a formal apology to the mother and her son, and launched a probe into what it described as a “frightening” incident.

Spokesman Richard Homes said: “We are extremely concerned to learn that a young person had been accidentally locked in the toilets near White Horse Lane car park by the council’s contractor responsible for managing our public toilets.

“We will be undertaking an investigation as to how this could have happened, and we have already made contact with the young person’s mother to apologise for what must have been a very frightening incident.

“I would like to praise the actions of the individual from the local barbers who came to the rescue, but until the investigation has concluded, we will be unable to comment further.”