An urgent inquiry was under way by Bradford Social Services today after five boys aged seven to 11 went missing from a children's home.

The boys vanished from Meadowlea children's home, Menston, when one of them activated the fire alarm after breakfast yesterday which automatically unlocks all doors.

Police were alerted by staff after a roll call for the ten children who live at the home immediately revealed that half of them were missing.

Two of the boys, aged seven and nine, were picked up five hours later at a newsagent's shop almost ten miles away in Harrogate Road, Eccleshill, Bradford, where all five boys were spotted trying to take sweets.

One of them told the newsagent he had fled bare foot, and found some outsize shoes in a dustbin.

The three others, one aged nine and two aged 11, were found by police early today at one of the addresses officers had been asked to check by social services chiefs.

All the children have now been returned to Meadowlea in Hawksworth Drive and are said to be unharmed.

Today, the head of Bradford Council's social services department Councillor John Godward said there would be an immediate inquiry into the incident to make sure it never happened again.

Carrie Taylor, whose husband, Mike, owns the newsagent's shop where the children were picked up said they were running off with a handful of sweets when a customer gave chase and brought two of them back to the shop.

She said: "We asked them where they'd come from and they said they'd run away from a children's home in Menston and that they'd walked all the way to Eccleshill.

"One of them said he'd left the home without any shoes or socks on and had found a pair of old shoes in a bin. He was wearing them in the shop and they were miles too big for him.

"We were told by police that they'd come to take them back to the home, but there was nothing they could do to charge them because they were under the age of criminal responsibility.

"By this time we'd already contacted the home to tell them we'd found two of their children. We felt duty-bound to make sure they got back to their rightful place."

Acting inspector Tim Kingsman at Eccleshill police said: "Because the boys were under the age of criminal responsibility, all we can do is to speak to them in front of their parents or guardians.

"In this case, the lady from the shop had already contacted the guardians."

Coun Godward, the Council's executive member with responsibility for social services, said: "I have asked for an investigation and report into what happened, and what steps are being taken to ensure this does not happen again.

"It's very worrying that children have absconded in this way. I have to say that absconding from children's homes is quite a regular occurrence although it's not normal in that age group. It could be simply childish mischief.

"Obviously they will be asked why they went away like this.

"We need to see that steps are taken to prevent this happening to the same children again, they must be made to understand that it's a very dangerous thing to do."

Richard Bates, divisional manager at Bradford Social Services, confirmed the boys had disappeared after one of them activated a fire alarm.

He said when staff took names outside, it was immediately obvious that five children had vanished.

Staff immediately reported the missing children to police giving full descriptions of them.

After the other five children had been taken to school, staff scoured the area but could not find the group.

Social services bosses will now consult West Yorkshire Fire Service before urgently reviewing fire safety procedures at the home.

"Staff are very worried about it - it's awful," said Mr Bates.

"It isn't usual for children to abscond from that particular home, we keep it quite heavily staffed."

Some of the children at Meadowlea have deep-rooted problems but were making good strides with their education and integrating well into the village community, he added.

All ten children attend schools. The doors at the home are locked at night, and during the day children are at school or under constant supervision.

A spokesman for Bradford Council Social Services said: "We will be making an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the absence of these children. They left home without permission, after breakfast and before school, and were reported missing immediately."

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