A young mum has warned other parents to stay vigilant after a woman reportedly grabbed her young son in a shopping centre.

Kerri Deakin had been out for lunch with a friend before visiting the Pentagon shopping centre in Chatham with Marley, two, and her newborn daughter Annabelle, aged five weeks.

It was the first time she had been out on her own with both her children.

Miss Deakin, 22, from Walderslade, was pushing Annabelle in her pushchair and her son was walking alongside her, when she realised he had disappeared near New Look. When she turned around she says another woman had grabbed hold of Marley’s hand.

Miss Deakin said: “I could see Marley out of the corner of my eye, and then he wasn’t there.

“I turned around straight away and a woman had hold of his hand. I panicked, I didn’t know what to do.

“Marley was trying to come back to me but couldn’t because this woman was holding his hand.

“She saw me looking, let go of him and walked off.

“I’m 100% certain he would have been taken if I hadn’t looked around.”

Miss Deakin said that usually when she goes out with both of her children she is accompanied by a friend so one can hold Marley’s hand and watch him, while she looks after Annabelle.

“I won’t be going out on my own with them again for a few weeks,” She said. “I’ve ordered a wrist strap for Marley now, so I definitely won’t be going out until that arrives.”

Miss Deakin would like to thank a woman who saw her crying in the centre, and waited with her for the shopping centre’s security to arrive.

The Pentagon Shopping Centre director, Martyn Stone, declined to comment.

A police spokesman said: “Police received a report of an attempted accosting at a shopping centre in Chatham at 4.09pm on Wednesday, July 27.

“Officers are reviewing the incident and continuing their inquiries."