Police have confirmed a possible sighting of schoolboy Alex Batty who was believed to have been abducted six years ago.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said officers in Oldham, Greater Manchester, are in contact with French authorities to establish the authenticity of the reported sighting near the city of Toulouse.
Alex Batty, who is now 17, went missing in 2017 after going on a family holiday to Spain.
Detectives believed Alex was abducted and taken abroad by his mother to live an “alternative” lifestyle.
We are supporting a British national in France and are in contact with local authorities
A spokesperson for GMP said: “This is a complex and long-running investigation, and we need to make further enquiries as well as putting appropriate safeguarding measures in place.”
It is understood the teenager, who was 11 when he disappeared, was spotted by a member of the public near the French city of Toulouse on Wednesday and taken to a police station.
In a statement, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “We are supporting a British national in France and are in contact with local authorities.”
The youngster, from Fitton Hill in Oldham, went abroad with his mother Melanie Batty, 38, who does not have legal parental guardianship, and his grandfather David Batty, 59, on a pre-agreed trip.
He flew with them to Malaga Airport for a week-long stay in the Benahavis area near Marbella.
However, they did not return to England as expected on October 8 2017.
David and Melanie Batty remain wanted in connection with Alex’s disappearance.
Despite international public appeals, Alex’s legal guardian – his grandmother Susan Caruana – had not seen him since he left the UK.
She previously said her daughter and ex-husband lived in a commune in Morocco with Alex in 2014 as part of an “alternative lifestyle”, which she thought lay behind the youngster’s disappearance.
