A charity shop manager has criticised police for a "mistake" in which an emergency call about an abandoned pushchair was incorrectly shelved.

Police were called after the pushchair and handbag were found in London Road, Headington, Oxford.

Cherie Cook, manager of the Marie Curie Cancer Care shop, found the pushchair and handbag at the bus stop outside her store in London Road and feared something might have happened to the mother and child.

Her fears were compounded as the pushchair looked expensive and £18 in cash was found in the handbag.

The items were kept in the store overnight, but after no-one came forward, Ms Cook called the police on Thursday afternoon.

She said: "It was a very expensive looking pushchair and the handbag had nearly £18 in change in the side pocket. I just thought it was very strange.

"I contacted the police to report it and they said that someone would be in to see me later that day, but I didn't hear anything.

"I think it is disgusting no-one contacted me.

"It was just a really unusual thing for someone to have left by mistake. If it had just been the handbag, I wouldn't have thought anything of it.

"But with the pushchair, well, you start to worry about what happened."

Police have since blamed a control room operator for the mix-up and failure to immediately act on the call.

Mrs Cook said: "Even if they (police) had turned up a day or two later it would have been acceptable, but I was waiting almost a week."

Police Community Support Officers eventually turned up to her store on Wednesday, but only after the Oxford Mail contacted them to ask why there had been such a delay.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: "Mrs Cook's call was mistakenly logged by our call checker as an abandoned item, which are dealt with by the local authority.

"This meant it was closed with no further action.

"It has now been reopened and the neighbourhood team made aware.

"We would like to stress that if members of the public are concerned about the police response to a similar incident, they can call us again on the non-emergency number, 08458 505505, to check what is being done."

Last night police were still making inquiries into tracing the lady and her child.