In St. Petersburg traffic police towed away a car with an eight-year-old boy locked inside. His parents are threatening to sue the city authorities and say the incident has affected the child's mental health.

It was a parent's worst nightmare seeing your car on top of a tow truck, while your child is locked inside.

Igor Ilyasov had pulled over to buy a bottle of water, after his car began to overheat. He locked his eight-year-old son Sasha inside, and ran to the corner shop.

During the five minutes that he was gone, traffic police appeared and seized the car.

“I tried to get their attention. I climbed into the front seat, so that they could see me through both the front and the side window and I yelled,” said the boy.

But the officers either didn't see him, or ignored him.

Igor came out to see his car already on the truck.

“I yelled that my son was inside. I ran after them, and was ten meters away when they drove off,” he said.

It took Igor two hours to find out where the car was and to fill out the necessary paperwork and then be reunited with his son.

The whole time Sasha sat in the parking lot. No one, say his parents, checked up on him or asked why he was crying.

St. Petersburg police are notorious for being quick to tow cars almost as soon as a driver leaves the vehicle. It's lucrative the tow truck company gets 160 dollars, a time.

The department has not commented on the incident, but has suggested that they may not have seen the boy due to the car's tinted windows.

They also questioned the wisdom of leaving children alone in a car.

The Ilyasov family are asking for an investigation and say they're prepared to press charges if they receive an unsatisfactory response.

Sasha they claim has now developed signs of claustrophobia.