South Africa schoolteacher fined after police catch her with 19 CHILDREN in her tiny hatchback - including six in the boot

Nursery nurse was stopped as she transported a class of children aged between four and six on a trip to a burger bar

Police in Pretoria found three youngsters on the front seat, ten in the back and six in the boot

A South African nursery school teacher has been caught transporting 19 children in her Renault Clio.

Melanie Minnie was stopped as she carried a class of children aged between four and six on a school trip to a shopping mall burger bar.

Police officers were shocked to discover she had six children in the small car's boot; at least three on the front seat and the remaining ten on the car's back seat.

Tight squeeze: Nursery teacher Melanie Minnie was fined R1,500 (about £100) for putting 19 children in her car (pictured)

Crammed: Children are seen pressed up against the window of the car's boot as they are loaded into the hatchback

Compact: Ms Minnie was stopped while in the process of ferrying the second of two car-loads of children back to her nursery from the mall

It is unclear whether any were wearing seat belts. A local newspaper photographer was on the scene to capture striking images of the children squashed into the tiny car. Nico van Heerden said police had been tipped off about the safety breach by a concerned shopper at Pretoria's Jacaranda shopping mall who saw the teacher loading the children into her car. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Mother-of-three left young children home alone to go on... Innocent victims: Scarred faces of Syrian children highlight... Share this article Share Police stopped her a block away from the shopping centre, the photographer said, as she made the mile-long journey to the Rietfontein nursery school. Far from being uncomfortable, however, the children seemed relatively comfortable and excited by the action, Mr van Heerden claimed. He said: 'They were excited at first, but after a while they started to get a more worried and cried.' Road trip: An eyewitness claimed the children were at first excited about their car journey Safety breach: Police were tipped off by a concerned shopper at Pretoria's Jacaranda shopping mall who saw the teacher loading the children into her car 'This is the first time we went on an outing - and the last': Ms Minnie told police she had already transported a first group of 12 children in her car

Ms Minnie was quoted in South Africa's Afrikaans language Beeld newspaper 'this is the first time we went on an outing - and the last time'.

According to the paper, Ms Minnie was stopped while in the process of ferrying the second of two car-loads of children back to her nursery from the mall.

She told police she had already transported a first group of 12 children in her car.