Police release image of potential witness to incident where man asked two schoolgirls to get into a vehicle in Burnley

It happened at around 3-10pm on Tuesday as the two girls – aged 15 and 16 – were standing at the junction of Church Street, St James Street and Hall Street in Burnley town centre.

It was reported that a man in a white Renault panel van pulled up alongside the girls and asked them to get in, before claiming to be a taxi driver.

The girls refused and the van driver left the scene.

Enquiries have been ongoing since then and on Wednesday afternoon a 36-year-old man from Burnley was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnap. He has since been released under investigation.

Yesterday, a 35-year-old man from Nelson was arrested on suspicion of attempted abduction. He remains in custody at this time.

Det. Chief Insp. Derry Crorken, of Burnley Police, said: “We took this report extremely seriously and our enquiries have been ongoing since then.

"We have now made two arrests and as part of our ongoing enquiries we need to identify the man in the CCTV, who is a potential witness of the crime and not a suspect. We would ask him to make contact with us as soon as he sees this appeal.

“We are continuing to ask anyone else with information which could help our inquiry 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.”

Anybody with information is asked to get in touch on 101, quoting log 964 of July 20th. Alternatively independent charity Crimestoppers can be reached on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org. In an emergency always call 999.