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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ryan Carroll

Two scared mums say kids also targeted by white van in Cumbernauld after 'attempted abduction'

Two frightened mums claim their young children were also targeted by men in a white van in Cumbernauld after an alleged attempted abduction in the town.

Police are investigating three separate incidents in the North Lanarkshire town involving young boys being approached by a white transit van driven by men.

Earlier this week we told how a dad took to social media to warn parents after his son was approached by a van and told to get inside while walking to school.

The youngster was on Westfield Drive in the town at around 9.25am on Tuesday, February 8.

His dad said: "Warning someone tried to kidnap [my son] this morning going to school. A white van approached him, a man started to scream at him to get into a van. Please be aware."

Cops were alerted to an incident on Westfield Drive, Cumbernauld (Google Maps)

Police confirmed they had launched a probe and told the Record they had 'not received any further reports of such incidents in this area'.

Two more frightened parents then contacted the Record to tell of similar incidents involving their children in the town last year.

One mum told how her nine-year-old son was walking on Lochlea Road, on the other side of the town when he was approached by a white transit van, at around 3.15pm on Tuesday, September 7, last year.

The mum, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "This is not an isolated incident. My son was walking home from school when a man tried to kidnap him. He shouted at him to 'get in the f*****g van' and my son was terrified and ran away.

Another incident was reported on Lochlea Road in Cumbernauld (Google Maps)

"We reported this to police and they have been investigating it but no one has been arrested.

"Speaking to other mums in the town, I know of at least three other similar incidents in the area and they are all the same, it's all men in white vans approaching little boys.

"I think it's important for parents in Cumbernauld to know this isn't an isolated incident.

"As a parent your worst fear is someone taking your child away.

"We want to reiterate the importance of 'stranger danger' and if someone approaches them, tell them to run."

Another mum told how her son was approached by a white transit van and the male driver offered her son sweets.

The child was walking home from school on Grampian Way in Cumbernauld at around 3.05pm on Tuesday, September 28 when the vehicle pulled up.

Another incident was reported on Grampian Way in Cumbernauld (Google Maps)

She said: "I was shocked to read the police statement that there have been no other incidents like this.

"My 10-year-old son was approached by a man in a white van in the Eastfield area at the end of September last year, which is close to Westfield.

"My son was walking home from school when a man in a white van approached him and offered him sweets.

"He ran away absolutely terrified and was smart enough to run down lanes as he new the van couldn't drive down them.

"When he got home we reported it to police straight away.

"It is vital that the public are aware of this and to go over 'stranger danger' with their children.

"The dad whose son was approached this week is not the only child to have been targeted in similar circumstances in Cumbernauld."

Police confirmed all the incidents have been reported to them and they have launched investigations - however officers said they are not treating the incidents as linked.

Of the incident this week, a Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Police enquiries are continuing into the incident reported on Tuesday, 8 February, where a man stopped a white van and gestured to a nine-year-old boy in Westfield Drive, Cumbernauld. The man did not get out the van and extensive enquiries are continuing to trace the driver and to establish if any criminality has taken place. Anyone with information should contact 101.”

Of the incident on September 7, they said: "A number of enquiries have been carried out in relation to this report and no one has been arrested."

Of the incident on September 28, they said: "A number of enquiries have been carried out in relation to this report and no one has been arrested. Anyone who has any information that may assist police enquiries should contact 101."

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