Married couple take day trip to France but forget mother-in-law and leave her in Dover car park

When a married couple offered to take the mother-in-law on a trip to France, it might not have been everyone's idea of a fun day out. But whether it was an accident or not, the husband and wife discovered when they were halfway across the Channel that they had left their elderly relative behind. The woman, who is in her 70s, was still sitting in their car in a multi-storey at Dover port.

The couple, from Bootle, Merseyside, were apparently distraught and, on realising their slip-up, made an urgent call to Port of Dover Police to plead for help. Police eventually found the abandoned woman sitting in their parked car. She was taken for a cup of tea while she waited for her family to return several hours later.



Inspector Neil Care, of Port of Dover Police, said: 'I cannot recall anything like this happening before during my time and I've been here for 20 years.' He continued: 'On March 22 at about 8.55am we received a call from the couple from on board the ferry. The elderly woman, who was one of their mothers, was found safe and well sitting in their car. We took her for a cup of tea to make sure she was OK but she was absolutely fine.

'The couple returned at the first possible opportunity, on the next ferry, but it was still a three hours and 40 minutes round trip.' He said he did not know where the couple were heading to in France but said they had boarded the ferry as foot passengers and were on a day trip. Inspector Care said the family, who are in their 40s, did not want to be named.