Two young boys left shivering in a parked car as their parents dined on pizza in a Vaughan restaurant had to be broken out of the vehicle by police on Tuesday afternoon.

The outside temperature reached around -22 C during the Tuesday cold weather alert, said police.

A passerby called 911 after seeing the two boys aged four and six locked in a car with iced-up windows in a parking lot of a shopping complex at Hilda Ave. and Clark Ave.

When the patrol officers arrived, they broke the car window, said Const. Rebecca Boyd of York Regional Police. The boys were quickly bundled into the police car where they could warm up.

Neither boy was injured, though police estimate they were left in the car for more than 20 minutes.

The parents of the children were given a caution, though criminal charges like failing to provide the necessities of life can be laid. The Children’s Aid Society was also notified.

Boyd isn’t sure just how many of these incidents happen.

“But it’s important to remember it’s not just extreme heat that can be dangerous for children and pets left in the car,” she said.

A similar incident happened in Maryland on Tuesday when a man left a 4-year-old and a 5-month-old baby in the car in freezing weather to go shopping in Walmart. The man was charged with child abuse, The Washington Post reports.