A dad who left his seven-month-old son alone in a car while he went to play football with pals has been seized by police in Spain.

Passers-by called Municipal Police in Madrid after noticing the infant locked inside the parked car on the afternoon of 22nd December.

Police officers and firefighters prised open the unheated vehicle and rescued the infant, who they said had a very low body temperature.

Officers managed to locate the baby’s grandmother, who owns the car.

But when the baby’s dad came back – 30 minutes after police had arrived – he claimed he had been away for just five minutes, local media reported.

As the baby’s mother was unable to travel to the scene, it was handed over to its grandmother.

Meanwhile, the infant’s 26-year-old father was booked for child abandonment.

Temperatures in Madrid reached highs of just 12 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit) on 22nd December.