Police investigate abduction

Police investigating a suspected abduction today said a young boy was seen being taped around the mouth before being bundled into the boot of a car.

The boy, who is thought to be aged about nine, was seen struggling as he was pushed into the boot of a red car, possibly a Vauxhall Astra, in Woodrow, Redditch, at 7.15pm last night.

Sixty detectives and uniformed officers are currently investigating the incident and carrying out door-to-door inquiries.

At a press conference today, Acting Superintendent Kevin Purcell said officers were continuing to investigate the incident, even though there had still not been any reports of a missing boy.

He said: "We must investigate this until we are sure we do not have a missing child. There are witnesses to a number of circumstances and we continue to treat it as an abduction."

Mr Purcell, who is leading the investigation for West Mercia Constabulary, said other nearby forces had been alerted.

When asked if the witness reports could be a false alarm, Mr Purcell replied: "It could be a false alarm but we must treat this as an incident that did occur."

He confirmed that initial reports had been made by children in the local area.