A US mother has defended her decision to leave her two young children in a 'hot car' whilst she attended a job interview.

Shanesha Taylor, a 35-year-old single mother from Arizona, thought she would be leaving the children, aged six months and two, for 15 minutes but the interview overran to 40.

On returning, she was arrested, her children were taken into custody, and she was charged with felony child abuse - which carries a maximum total prison sentence of 14 years.

However, Ms Taylor, who was unemployed and "surviving on food stamps" at the time, said it was a choice between giving them future "security" and caring for them "at that moment".

First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire on Thursday 7 August 2014.