Man ‘tries to snatch two-year-old girl’ from children’s play park

Police are appealing for information after a man allegedly tried to snatch a two-year-old girl from a children’s play park in Wiltshire.  

The suspect approached the young girl in Royal Wootton Bassett park on Sunday morning and tried to lead her away from the area, officers said. 

Her mother, in her 20s, immediately grabbed her daughter and the man walked out of the park near Cloatley Crescent and Churn Way.   

The woman and her child returned home safely and called the police. 

Police said the mother had only ‘looked away briefly’ when the unknown man approached her young daughter. 

There were a number of other children in the park at the time. 

Wiltshire Police have now launched an investigation into the ‘suspicious incident’, which they said caused ‘anxiety and upset’ for the mother. 

Detective Inspector Paul Hacker said officers have already conducted ‘extensive enquiries in the area’ but have been unable to locate any CCTV footage.  

He said: ‘Understandably, this incident has caused anxiety and upset to those involved and no doubt this news will cause further concern amongst the local community – at this stage of our investigation we are keeping an open mind as to what the man’s intentions may have been. 

‘It is possible that there may be an innocent explanation to this and if that is the case, we would still like to speak to the man involved to understand exactly what this was. Rest assured we are leaving no stone unturned in our enquiries to identify him.

‘We know there were a couple of children in the park at the time, there may also have been other parents in that area too. If you were in the park area yesterday at around 11.30am please do get in touch.’

The man is described as tanned, 30-40 years of age, approximately 5 ft 11 inches tall and of average build. He had a polo shirt type top on with long shorts.

Anyone with information should call 101 and quote crime reference number 54200073762.