Last updated at 19:58, Thursday, 02 August 2012

A Workington mum is warning parents to guard against attempted abductions after her daughters said they were approached by two teenagers who invited them to a car for sweets.

Michelle Hucknall, of Shore Terrace, Salterbeck, said she was shocked when her seven-year-old daughter Rebeka told how she and four-year-old Hannah were approached in Walker Road, Workington, on Saturday.

Michelle, 28, had sent the girls to a play park near their home, to fetch her partner’s two sons at about 4pm.

When they returned, Rebeka said that two girls aged about 15 or 16 had approached and told them they were their cousins. The older girls told them they could have sweets if they wanted to go with them.

Michelle said her daughters had no idea who the girls were, but they were not cousins.

She said she had since been told by a Walker Road resident that an old silver car with two people in it was parked outside changing rooms at Walker Road for about two hours on Saturday afternoon.

Michelle said: “All I keep thinking is it could have been a schoolgirl prank, but you have got to look at the likes of Jamie Bulger. I don’t want that to happen to my kids or anybody else’s.”

Michelle is now keeping her children at home unless she can accompany them to the playground.

She said: “I want parents to keep an eye on their kids and make sure they don’t go too far. You’ve got to be careful where kids are concerned.”

Police are investigating the incident and are urging anyone with information to call them on 0845 33 00 247.

First published at 19:22, Thursday, 02 August 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk