DRAMA turned into a crisis for nine-year-old Jack Ross after he was left behind on a trip to the theatre.
The youngster was part of a youth group visit to see Jack and the Beanstalk in Edinburgh.
But after getting permission to go to the toilet at the end of the show at the King’s Theatre, he emerged to find he was on his own.
Staff from the council-run Inch House Community Centre were already well on their way home, completely unaware Jack was stranded in the middle of the city.
Jack’s angry mum, Dale Macbeth, said her father went to the centre to collect the boy.
She said: “He asked where Jack was, to which they replied he was on the bus – so clearly they hadn’t done a headcount.”
Dale said it was fortunate that Jack had been given a mobile phone by his grandparents at Christmas.
Helped by theatre staff, he was able to contact his family and was collected about 45 minutes later.
But Dale said it could have turned out worse. She said: “Imagine he’d gone out to look for the bus when he came out of the toilets. He’s very trusting and doesn’t know the area.
“He won’t be going back to that youth group.
“There were only 14 children – how hard must it have been to get them on the bus and do a simple count?”
A spokeswoman for Edinburgh council said: “We are obviously very sorry that this happened. A written apology was sent first thing on Monday morning.”
