CHILD abductor Lukman Miah was foiled when a farmer spotted a young girl lying in the back of his car in a sleeping bag.

Graeme Wilson had already noticed a build up of rubbish, cigarette ends and sweet wrappers outside his farm in Egerton — then on Sunday, November 30, he caught the culprits red-handed.

When he went to confront the occupants of the car, who included Miah, early in the morning, he was shocked to see some young girls in the back seat.

He had stumbled upon something far more serious than anti-social behaviour — and his call to police after the car was hastily driven away led to Miah being caught and charged with abduction.

Miah had befriended the girls, who were seen by their mothers getting into a car outside his takeaway, then drove them to Egerton, where he smoked cannabis.

Police said Miah, who was jailed yesterday for two years at Bolton Crown Court, had been on their radar for a couple of years.

The arrest prompted friends of the girls in the car to come forward and say they too had come into contact with Miah.

Mr Wilson said: “I had seen all this rubbish and it stood out quite obviously, and I wondered 'who is doing this?'

"I had a suspicion about what was happening as there were children's sweet wrappers amongst the rubbish."

When he confronted them Mr Wilson said the driver seemed in a hurry to get off.

Mr Wilson added: "After I noticed the girl I followed them and rang police with the registration plate. They said they got them at the McDonald's in Astley Bridge.

"It must have been going on for some weeks as apparently the girl's mothers had seen them getting into a car at a takeaway in Farnworth.

"It struck me as a strange place to pull up, outside a private address like that.

"I was surprised and very concerned when I heard what had been going on."

Det Sgt Pete Astbury, of Phoenix Exit Bolton, a team set up to protect children, said: “This was down to the quick-thinking of a member of the public.

"These are people we have been monitoring for quite a while and the time has come for them."

Speaking generally about the Phoenix Exit team's work, he said: "What we are seeing is the tip of the iceberg, and we know the more we look for this the more we find.

"But people are now getting the message that this is not right and reporting circumstances like this, which is great."

Miah, aged 29, of Begonia Avenue, Farnworth, pleaded guilty to four counts of child abduction.

Mizan Ali, aged 25, of Carnation Road, Farnworth, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice after asking the mother of one of the victims in the case not to give evidence.