Alcohol
The man was found after three hours in a state of drunkenness at a swingers club. Matthias Ripp

A man allegedly left his four-year-son inside a car for several hours while he drank at a swingers club.

Local police were first alerted to the situation because the car was double parked, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. Another motorist called police to complain, and when officers attended the scene they found a four-year-old boy "crying and screaming because he was cold" in the vehicle.

Police gave the child warm clothing while they used traffic computer checks to discover the owner of the car was a 40-year-old man. A search then ensued in surrounding shops and clubs and, eventually, officers discovered the man had made a payment on his bank card in a nearby swingers club.

The incident was first reported to police at about 10.45pm on Friday (10 November) in the Spanish town of Dos Hermanas, south of Seville. Police eventually discovered the man, in a state of drunkenness, at about 1.50am, three hours later.

The man was detained by national Spanish police on suspicion of abandonment of a minor. He was released on bail on Saturday morning and was due to be summoned to stand trial at the start of the following week.

At the scene, the man provided contact details for his partner, the boy's mother, and the child was returned home safely. The boy's mother has reportedly been told by prosecutors she may be able to bring a case of abandonment of family against her partner, according to sources at the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia.