Sweet-toothed toddler walks 1.5 miles at 3am to buy sweets

There are times when you've got to have sweets and you just can't wait. So when three-year- old Max McGrath woke up in the middle of the night, he knew exactly where to go - the local supermarket a mile and a half away.

As his parents slept on, oblivious to his mission, Max unlocked the front door and slipped outside. Wearing his turtle-decorated pyjamas and his older brother's shoes, which were two sizes too big, he padded down the dark streets all the way to Somerfield.

But, understandably given his age, Max had not quite thought things through. It was 3am, the store was closed, and he didn't have any money.



So it was that overnight delivery driver James Brown spotted the disappointed child peering through the supermarket's windows and asked him what he was doing there.

'He told me in a very matter-of-fact way that he was going to the shop,' Mr Brown said yesterday. 'He told me his family were at home asleep.'

Max was able to direct his rescuer to his house in Longridge, near Preston, but they could not raise anyone inside - so Mr Brown called the police. The youngster's parents were woken to find an officer with their boy. Max was reunited with his parents at about 4am.