Man arrested after schoolgirls asked to get into stranger's van in Burnley

The two girls - aged 15 and 16 - were standing at the junction of Church Street, St James Street and Hall Street at around 3.10pm yesterday (July 20).

A man - who claimed to be a taxi driver - pulled up alongside the girls in a white Renault van before asking them to get in.

When the girls refused, the van driver left the scene.

Following a police appeal today (July 21), a 36-year-old man from Burnley was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnap.

He remains in custody for questioning.

Det Chief Insp Tim Brown, of Burnley Police, said: "We are continuing to ask people for information about this incident to come forward.

"Maybe you saw all or part of the incident, have dashcam footage showing the van in the area at the time, or maybe you have information about who is responsible. Whatever you know, please contact us straight away.

"We know how rumours can spread on social media, so we continue to ask people to only get their information from police channels, and to refrain from speculating further on what might have happened until the full circumstances have been established."

Anybody with information has been asked to call 101, quoting log number 964 of July 20.

Alternatively. independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

In an emergency always call 999.

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