Police are investigating reports a man attempted to lure a young boy into his van – the third such incident in as many months.

The youngster, thought to be aged around eight, was in a park off Standgate Drive, Iwade, when a white vehicle pulled up and the driver beckoned the child.

It happened at around 1.15pm on Saturday , but the youngster is said to have run away.

It follows a similar instance in April in which a nine-year-old girl was approached by a man in a white van.

She was walking along Sheerstone in the village when the driver got out and offered her a lift home. She declined and ran away.

Days later, a second girl, aged 10, was walking in the village when a white van with two men inside pulled up next to her.

The vehicle’s occupants asked to borrow her mobile phone, but she said ‘no’ and walked off.

Officers are investigating but say they are not linking any of the incidents at this stage.

A spokesman added: "On Saturday, 27 June, police received information from a concerned member of the public who reported seeing, the day before, a driver of a white van speak to a child in Stangate Drive. The child ran off into a nearby property."

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