A resident of Torre del Mar came across three children alone in a parked car on Calle Cipriano Maldonado on Saturday, so he phoned the local police.

The reason why he did instead of waiting was because it was not the first time that he had seen these minors in exactly the same situation; sitting alone in a parked car and because he had reason to believe that their parents were inside a nearby gaming hall (casino).

The officers saw that the minors were in good health and waited for the parents to appear, which they did soon afterwards. The 33-year-old father and 32-year-old mother claimed that they had just popped in for just a moment to use the public toilets there.

However, when the officers told them that they were going to check the establishments CCTV recordings, they changed their story. She said that she had gone in for a moment because she was menstruating and needed to change but that the husband had been in there for over an hour.

The CCTV footage showed that they were both lying: they had entered at 18.18h and that it was 18.42 when the officers turned up, therefore the kids had been alone after dusk, in the car, for just under 25 minutes.

The owner of the establishment confirmed that the couple were regular clients and that it was not the first time that they had been inside his business with the kids left in the car, whose ages are 4-months old, 1-year-old and 3-years old..

Amazingly, whilst the officers were busy speaking with the owner, the couple reentered; she went to the bathroom and he went back to a game on the roulette, showing signs of not being the least worried about the situation.

The Policía Local have handed over the case to the Policía Nacional, who are investigating to confirm that there have been previous instances of this behaviour. Neither parent has been arrested and the children remain in their care.

(News: Torre del Mar, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)