A MOTHER is warning parents to be on their guard following the attempted abduction of her 11-year-old son.

Steven Asling, of Craufurd Green, Cheriton, near Folkestone, was walking home along Risborough Lane from the Cheriton Recreation Ground when a man in a red Rover car approached him.

The driver shouted at the youngster to get in. When the boy refused the man shouted again.

Steven refused a second time and then shouted to a friend across the road. The former Cheriton primary pupil, who will go to Pent Valley school in September, ran across the road to his pal and then to the Gurkha Hill shop. After a few minutes he then sprinted home.

The driver then sped off, in the direction of the Victoria public house.

Steven’s mother, Catherine, 32, said: “Steven was very frightened and very nervous. He was in such a state he couldn’t speak. I’ve told him that in future he must always stay in a group and have his mobile phone on him.

He had gone out with a group, but had decided to walk home on his own - and he hadn’t taken his phone out. I would advise parents to warn their children that these things do happen.”

Police have praised the way he reacted. Det Sgt John Kemp said: “This lad did exactly the right thing by saying no and running to safety. This sort of offence is very rare, but I would urge parents and children to be on their guard.”

The man is described as white, aged in his late thirties or early forties, slim, with brown hair and a ponytail tied in a thin blue hair band.

He had a deep voice, bushy eyebrows and a hooped earring in his right ear. He also had a tattoo of a rose on his forearm. His face is described as muscular. He was wearing blue jeans and a red Adidas t-shirt.

Anyone with information about the incident, which happened on Monday afternoon, is asked to contact Folkestone police on 01303 850055.

KM-fm's Nadia Jean has this report...