The distraught parents of a toddler who drowned in a paddling pool were heard screaming "please save our boy" as paramedics battled to save him.
Ambulance crews dashed to Somercotes, Derbys., after receiving calls about an unresponsive 23-month-old boy.
Police say the tot had been playing in a paddling pool but slipped under the water at 1.30pm on Wednesday.
Witnesses say the boy's frantic parents had carried the lifeless tot into the StopnShop newsagents begging for help and staff dialled 999.
A woman who works at a nearby beauty salon said: "I was on my dinner break and I saw the air ambulance and police cars everywhere.
"Everyone gets on pretty well along the road and I'm told the couple lived next door to the newsagents.
"They are quite young and had the paddling pool in the yard at the back but must have turned their backs and when they found him he was face down.
"I think they didn't know what to do so just took him into the newsagents and they called the ambulance.
"It's really really sad and it's upset everyone who lives and works on the road."
A business owner on the road, which is a mix of shops and terraced houses, said: "I saw a load of police and ambulance outside the newsagents.
"People I've talked to say the laddie lived in a house next to the shop and his parents just panicked when they found him and ran into the shop hoping someone could help.
"A woman who I know was at the bus stop outside and heard the parents screaming 'please save our boy' over and over again at the paramedics.
"It must have been absolutely heartbreaking. Such a tragedy."
Derbyshire Police said: "Officers were called to reports that a 23-month-old boy had been found unresponsive in a paddling pool in Nottingham Road, Somercotes, at around 1.30pm on June 2.
"The boy was taken to the Royal Derby Hospital, however, despite the best efforts of staff, he sadly passed away.
"Our thoughts are with his family at this most difficult of times."
