A Plumstead taxi driver was “shocked” to discover a mum had left her baby in the back of his black cab.

Ertan Rasit only found the “cute, tiny” child when another passenger flagged down his cab – after he had been driving for almost 20 minutes on Monday (May 19) afternoon.

The 44-year-old says he was “greeted like a hero” when he returned to the scene in Shoreditch and gave the baby back to a screaming mother and cheering crowd.

The father-of-two says he did not notice the 17-month-old girl as she had been quietly sitting in the back enjoying the “cab view of London”.

Mr Rasit, who lives off Plumstead High Street, said: “It was amazing. After years of being a cab driver, I have never experienced anything like it.

“I have had people leave laptops, phones, but never their baby.

“I hadn’t noticed this poor child in the back of my cab because of the way she was sitting. She was so cute and tiny.

“Some fellow just flagged me down and as I pulled up, said ‘did you know there’s a kid in the back?’ “Being a father myself, I was shocked.”

He says he did not have a booster seat so he drove the infant on his lap back to her mother and a crowd of around 30 people.

Mr Rasit said: “There was commotion when I got back, the lady was screaming and it was like something out of a movie. Everyone gave me a round of applause, like a hero cab driver.

“It’s a happy ending but it’s made me feel for mothers out there to be more aware. I am not writing her off, we don’t know what was going through her mind.

“The thing that blew my mind was the child was apart from her mum and didn’t scream, she actually enjoyed the journey and just looked out the window and enjoyed the cab view through London.”

The taxi driver added: “It is a very personal job, you are always talking with people and they tell you their problems, you become an agony aunt, but this is definitely still one story in a million.”