Family Forget Three-Year-Old Daughter And Leave Her Behind At French Motorway Stop

(Picture: The A7 motorway in France / Rex Features)

A family on their way to a holiday in the south of France left their three-year-old daughter behind at a motorway picnic area.

The French family drove almost 100 miles before realising they had forgotten about the girl.

She was left at the Bras de Zil rest-stop near Loriol in the Drome region on Sunday afternoon. The picnic stop along the A7 road is known as “the motorway of the sun”.

The child’s older brother and sister, along with her two parents, travelled a further 150km (93 miles) before realising she was missing.

They were only notified of her absence by an alert on the radio when they were past Aix-en-Provence, on their way to Saint-Raphael.

Another family found the girl at about midday and waited with her for her parents to return, but when there was no sign of them they notified the police.

The girl reportedly told officers she was on her way to the beach with her family.

Her father got in touch with police at about 3pm local time and the family were reunited more than two hours later.

French prosecutors are debating whether or not to take action over the incident.