I was able to remove the back seat bench and then take out a few bolts and lift up the passenger side back seat enough for a small person to go in under the seat through the opening to the trunk.

 

I did read once that the same problem was got round by a garage doing something with the rear seats but could not recall this.
Was the seat squab easy to remove?
Also it's not all xtypes have the opening into the boot and we in the UK do not have the release strap on the lock.."We don't tend to shut our children in there"

 

The folding rear seats fittings are straight from the Ford parts bin
My 1998 Mondeo ( US Contour) Ghia X saloon had identical folding rear seat catches.

There are other methods for gaining access to US models as demonstrated.

 

Had to remove several hex bolts located under the bench seat and had to be there to hold the bottom of the seat up while my, tiny, wife crawled into the trunk.

 

 

bump