A Tauranga woman is facing court after her five young children were found home alone.
Police say they found the children, aged between two and nine, at the Brookfield house at about 10pm.
The eldest was apparently left in charge, police say, and the children understood their mother was at work, but that was not the case.
The 26-year-old woman faces a single charge of leaving a child under 14 without reasonable excuse, and was scheduled to appear in the Tauranga District Court on Thursday.
The maximum penalty is a $2,500 fine or three months' imprisonment. Police say the charge is not often laid.
