A seven-year-old British girl and her baby sister were found 'abandoned' in a locked car in Tenerife, local media reports.

The girl and one-year-old baby were reportedly found on June 17 by a concerned local, who said the white Volkswagen Polo rental had been parked in the sun with the windows closed.

After 15 minutes there was still no sign of the childrens' parents, and police were called to the scene at the Apolo Commercial Centre in Los Cristianos, according to a policing blog post cited by local news outlets.

Officers convinced the seven-year-old to unlock the door and allow them into the car, where they found yoghurts and juices, as well as documentation identifying the man believed to be the girls' father.

Police searched the shopping centre for the man, and located a 38-year-old Brit at a hair salon. He initially denied being the girls' father, and said he had a different name to the man they were looking for.

Apparently unable to locate the children's parents, police informed the local prosecutor's office, which ordered that the girls be transferred to a local maternal unit.

Meanwhile, efforts to identify the girls' father with the help of the car rental company he had hired the vehicle from eventually proved successful.

A driving licence and other information reportedly confirmed that the man police had spoken to at the salon had been the girls' father, and that he had lied to cops about his identity.

When they returned to the salon to detain him, hairdressers reported that the suspect had fled shortly after questioning.

In another twist, a 35-year-old Polish man arrived at the scene, reportedly telling police that he was a friend of the person responsible for the girls.

He claimed that the man had asked him to pick them up, but the officers refused to release the children until their parents were fully identified.

Eventually, police were able to track down the girls' mother, a 27-year-old British tourist.

She was contacted and came to the shopping centre, where officers confirmed her identity and handed over the children to her.  

Police have opened a case, Canarian Weekly reports, and are seeking to arrest the girls' father on suspicion of child abandonment.