Police issue appeal after Church Stretton boy scared

A 12-year-old boy ran home fearing that someone was following him after a car pulled up on a road in Shropshire and the driver offered him a lift.

Police in Church Stretton have appealed for witnesses following the incident, which took place near the sharp bend in Ludlow Road, Church Stretton, at about 5pm on Friday.

The boy was walking along when a small, dark-coloured car pulled up alongside him and the driver, a white man in his 30s, asked if he wanted a lift. There was a passenger sitting in the rear seat.

After declining, the boy carried on walking before he heard the sound of a car door closing and the car drove past him with only the driver inside.

The boy looked to see a person behind him and, worried that he was being followed, began to run until he got home.

Constable John Scimia, who is investigating the incident, asked anyone who might have witnessed the incident, or who might have seen a car matching the description in the Ludlow Road area around this time, to get in touch.

He said: "There was a group of three or four teen-agers walking on the other side of the road in the opposite direction when this incident reportedly took place and I would urge those youngsters to please contact police on 0300 333 3000 with anything they might have seen.

"I would also urge the driver of the car or its passenger to contact police as a matter of urgency. It may be that there is an innocent explanation but the boy was left frightened and shaken by what happened and we need to speak to both the driver and passenger."

Information can be passed on anonymously via Crime-stoppers on 0800 555 111.