A mother in China has tied her young son to the handrails after her ex-husband allegedly missed 1,000 yuan (£114) in child support payment, according to reports.

The mother then took pictures of the screaming child before sending them to her ex-husband to demand for the money.

The father lives four hours drive away and had to send the pictures to the child's grandparents, who spent nearly 20 minutes freeing the traumatised boy.

A mother tied her son to the handrails (pictured) to threaten her ex-husband in southern China

The shocking incident occurred in Leiyang city, southern China's Hunan Province, reported Chinese news website Sina.com, citing another Chinese site The Paper.

The disturbing pictures, taken by the mother, had been circulating on WeChat, a Chinese social media app.

Reports claimed that the boy's parents divorced in the first half of 2016. The couple have two sons. The elder son lives with the mother and the younger son lives with the father.

However since July, the father requested his ex-wife to look after their younger son for one semester on the condition that he would pay her 2,000 yuan (£229) for child support every month.

The report also claimed that the man had paid 5,700 yuan (£653) to his ex-wife to cover the tuition fees for their elder son.

The report quoted an insider who claimed that the father paid a total amount of 13,200 yuan (£1,512) to his ex-wife in August, September and October.

The boy, reportedly aged four was later rescued by his grandparents from the staircase

However on November 5, the mother reportedly received £115 instead of the promised £229 from her ex-husband.

Feeling furious, she decided to tie up their younger son to the staircase of the building she lives in and took the pictures.

She sent the pictures to the child's father who lives in a different city some 390 kilometres (242 miles) away.

The father couldn't go home immediately so he sent the pictures to his parents who live in the same city of his ex-wife.

His parents spent nearly 20 minutes freeing the boy from the handrails. The child was described to be in a 'horrified' and 'desperate' state when he was rescued.

The father told a reporter from The Paper on November 8 that he and his wife were in discussion regarding the child support payment. He refused to give more details.