Police appeal following reports of ‘private hire taxi driver’ trying to lure young boy into car

Police appeal for help following reports of a ‘private hire taxi driver’ trying to lure a young boy into his vehicle.

Officers from Merseyside Police have confirmed they are looking into the incident following a report of suspicious circumstances in Southport at the weekend.

Just before 9pm Sunday 8 March, a call was received reporting a 13-year-old boy walking in Stafford Road had been approached by a man possibly driving a private hire vehicle. The man driving asked the teenager to get into the car, saying his mother had called a taxi for him. The boy was suspicious of this and refused to get into the car and ran away.

CCTV and witness enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of the incident and anyone with information is asked to contact police. Detective Chief Inspector Gayle Rooney said: "I would like to reassure the community that we take any reports of this nature extremely seriously and enquiries are ongoing to establish exactly what happened. “I would like to praise the actions of this boy as he was extremely sensible and did exactly the right thing under the circumstances. "We would ask anyone who saw a male acting suspiciously in the area around 9pm to come forward. We are particularly interested in any mobile phone or dashcam footage which could help with our investigation. We would urge anyone with any information to contact us.” Anyone who witnessed the incident or saw anything suspicious that could help is asked to DM @MerPolCC or call 101 quoting reference 0836 of 09/03/20, or you can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously and for free on 0800 555 111, or DM @CrimestoppersUK.

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