POLICE have issued a warning to parents after girls were approached by men in cars in two separate incidents in Bolton.

Both incidents happened not far from each other in the north of Bolton, but police say the descriptions of the two men are different.

In the first incident, a 15-year-old girl was walking along Crompton Way near Lidl on Tuesday when a man in a dark saloon car pulled up alongside her at about 8.30am.

He asked the girl to show him where a school was and asked her to get into his car to show him, but she refused.

The second incident happened on Wednesday between 8.30pm and 9.20pm in Blackburn Road, Astley Bridge, near The Lamb pub.

A man pulled up in a dark coloured Audi next to two girls, aged 13 and 15, and asked for their names and ages.

He then asked them to get into the car, but they refused and he drove off.

A police spokesman said: “Although the car descriptions are similar, we are confident these reports are not of the same male due to the descriptions of the males that have been given.

“We urge you to stay vigilant and warn your children about not approaching cars that pull up and try to engage in conversation with them.

"If you see anything suspicious always report it.”

Responding to criticism on the police's Facebook page, Insp Wayne Readfern, from Bolton North Neighbourhood Policing Team, said he decided not to release descriptions of the suspects because they were too vague.

He said one of the men was described as Asian, while the other was said to be a white English man.

He said: "People from all communities commit crime.

"The main reason for the message is to warn your young family members and report suspicious circumstances to the police."


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Anyone with information can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.