Drivers in Italy are now required to equip car seats with an alarm that is designed to prevent children being left alone in vehicles, after a spate of heatwave deaths.

In what is believed to be a first in Europe, Italy will impose fines of between €81 and €326 if the car is not equipped with the device, and offenders will lose five points on their licence, the Transport Ministry announced.

The alarm, which must be fitted on car seats for children under the age of four, should alert the driver about the presence of a child through vibrating audio and visual signals. This would be detectable from inside and outside the vehicle. 

The law was first proposed last year after several children died from being left in vehicles in scorching heat.