An Arizona grandfather has been accused of leaving his five-year-old granddaughter alone in the desert with a loaded handgun - telling her to "shoot any bad guys".

Paul Armand Rater, 53, was charged with two counts of felony child abuse and one count of felony child endangerment at a police station in Phoenix, Arizona after the incident on Sunday night.

Police said Mr Rater and the child left their home in Buckeye, about 30 miles west of Phoenix early on Sunday afternoon and the child was reported missing four hours later.

She was eventually found by her mother and an off-duty firefighter in the desert holding a powerful .45-calibre handgun.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said: "She was given the gun and told to shoot any bad guys.

"I don’t know how a five-year-old can tell a good guy from a bad guy but that’s what she said she was told."

Mr Rater was found later at a store and later admitted he had left the girl "while he went for a few drinks and a cheeseburger".

He told police the pick-up truck he was driving had broken down and he had left the girl under a tree when she complained she could not walk anymore.

The child was later returned to her mother and Arizona’s child welfare authorities were notified.