Boy found wandering suburb

A four-year-old boy was found wandering in suburban Auckland at 2am crying and calling out "mummy" after his mother went out drinking three hours earlier, leaving the boy at home alone.

North Shore police said they were grateful for the actions of a man who discovered the boy wandering the North Shore suburb of Bayview at 2.30am.

The mother, who is in her twenties, was eventually located and charges were likely, police said.

The boy is now in the care of his father at another address.

"If it had not been for the alertness of the neighbour and the fact he was a light sleeper, there is every chance the child would have wandered further and become lost on a miserable, cold, winter's night,'' a police spokesman said.