A FIRE boss has warned residents of the danger of leaving their children and pets in the car during hot weather.

Roger Exley, Station Manager at Barrow Firestation, has warned of the serious damage that could be done if children or pets are left in cars for to long in the heat.

He warned that doing so for long periods of time ‘could even result in death’.

This comes after police were called by a concerned Barrow resident reporting that three children had been left in a car outside Poundland in Hindpool for 20 minutes on Monday.

Police arrived as the owner of the car returned from inside the shop.

The concerned resident said: "I think it’s completely irresponsible.

"There is so many different things that can go wrong.

"My eldest son is nine and I wouldn’t dream of leaving him while I paid for petrol let alone as young as a one year old being left for 20 minutes or more."

A police spokesman confirmed officers attended the incident and nobody was injured.

He said: “Police were called at around 1pm to a report of concern for safety in the area of Hindpool Park.

"Officers attended and appropriate advice was given.

"No one was injured."

Mr Exley said the dangers of leaving children and pets in cars in hot weather and urged residents to avoid doing so.

He said: “Over the years we have experienced a number of incidents like this.

“Cars generally absorb heat so it doesn’t take much before temperature inside a vehicle increase.

“Humidity is also an issues and causes the body temperature to rise and can result in dehydration and potentially heatstroke.

“We urge people that on no occasion should young people or animals be left in a car.

“If it is imperative they are left in the car, they should absolutely be given ventilation.”

Mr Exley explained fire services have previously had to break in to cars to rescue children or animals.

He said: “In the hot weather, there is a high risk of people suffering serious damage and could potentially be fatal.”