Boy, 2, found crawling in street at 6am

A paperboy has described how he found a two-year-old boy crawling down a road at 6am.

Daniel Maul and his friend Matthew Sullivan, both 14, had to fend off a fox before picking up the child and seeking help.

The child, who was wearing only a vest and nappy, was more than a quarter of a mile from his home — having crawled down the stairs and out of the front door at his mother's first-floor flat.

His mother, 27-year-old Paula Raeburn, was reportedly arrested on suspicion of neglect.

Daniel said he spotted the boy on an estate in South Croydon and took him to the paper shop.

"The baby was covered in mud and grazes," he said. "He was blue and felt cold."

Neighbours said they had been told the boy crawled out at about 2.30am — meaning he could have been out for as long as four hours.