Burnley man arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnap
A man has been arrested following an incident where two schoolgirls were asked to get into a vehicle with someone in Burnley.
It happened at around 3.10pm yesterday (Tuesday, July 20th) as the two girls – aged 15 and 16 – were standing at the junction of Church Street, St James Street and Hall Street in the town centre.
It was reported that a man in a white Renault panel van pulled up alongside the girls and asked them to get in, before claiming to be a taxi driver. The girls refused and the van driver left the scene.
A 36-year-old man from Burnley was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnap. He remains in police custody.
Det Ch Insp Tim Brown, of Burnley Police, said: “We took this report extremely seriously and our enquiries have been ongoing since then. We have now made an arrest and the man remains in police custody at this time.
“We are continuing to ask people for information about this incident to come forward. Maybe you saw all or part of the incident, have dashcam footage showing the van in the area at the time, or maybe you have information about who is responsible. Whatever you know, please contact us straight away.
“We would also like to reiterate the advice we gave earlier. We know how rumours can spread on social media, so we continue to ask people to only get their information from police channels, and to refrain from speculating further on what might have happened until the full circumstances have been established.”
Anybody with information is asked to get in touch on 101, quoting log 964 of July 20th. Alternatively independent charity Crimestoppers can be reached on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org. In an emergency always call 999.