Wirral Man arrested on suspicion of attempted child abduction

Merseyside Police have arrested a man on suspicion of attempted child abduction, following an incident on the Wirral.

On Thursday 29 April, at around 5.45pm, officers received a report of a man approaching two children in a black Skoda SUV car on Hoole Road, Woodchurch.

The man was reported to have encouraged the children to get into his car. The children were able to run away from the vehicle and were thankfully unharmed.

A 49-year-old man from Poulton has now been arrested on suspicion of attempted abduction.

He has been taken into custody for questioning.

Police say CCTV and witness enquiries are ongoing and anyone with any further information is asked to contact them.

Detective Inspector Catherine Walsh said:

“I would like to reassure the community that we take any reports of this nature extremely seriously. Although we have made an arrest, enquires are ongoing and if anyone has any further information about the incident then I would urge them to get in touch.

“If you were on Hoole Road on Thursday night near the Co-Op and saw anything, or captured footage on mobile phone or dashcam then I would ask you to share it with us.

“We understand that there are reports on social media of similar incidents on the Woodchurch Estate and in the Port Sunlight area. If anyone has seen anything similar then please report this to police, or anonymously through Crimestoppers, as where we receive a report of children at risk we will not hesitate to take action.”

Anyone who witnessed the incident on Hoole Road or has any further information is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC with reference 21000282398. You can also call 101 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.

ENDS