Parents and others have been sharing information about two incidents in the Ross area where strangers have approached children.

Local police officers have been keen to point out that although these are rare occurrences in Ross there is a need for parents to make their children more aware and vigilant. They also suggest telling older children who may be approached by a stranger to use their mobile phones to take a picture of the car or the registration number.

This information would help the police in their investigations.

In the first incident police were alerted after a man driving a black Audi A3, along Mayhill Road in Ross-on-Wye, stopped and asked a school child for their name and age on January 27th, at approximately 3.50pm.

The driver of the car was described as a black man, about 6ft tall, of a slim build. He was wearing black joggers with white stripes down the side, a black jacket with a hood, and a blue baseball cap with a purple visor.

The schoolboy ran away when the man asked him questions. Police are investigating, and if anyone has any further information relating to this incident, please call 101 and quote the crime reference number: 684-S-270116.

In the second incident a man in a red estate car pulled up to a bus stop in Peterstow and asked a 14-year-old girl to get into the car with him on February 1st, at 8am.

The girl did not recognise the man. The car was described as a red estate which was fairly old and very dirty.

If you have any information regarding this incident call 101 quoting reference OIS 99S-010216.

The police have issued a few simple rules for young people and recommend that parents remind their children about how to stay safe.

Remind youngsters that a stranger is anyone they don’t know. Most strangers are nice people, but sometimes they can be nasty.

Ask them to stay with their friends and never

• go off with a stranger

• take things from a stranger

• get into a car with a stranger

• go off on their own

Tell your child that if anyone ever makes them feel uncomfortable, worried or scared they should shout ’Stop’ or ’No’ as loudly as they can and go somewhere safe as quickly as they can. This could be home, school, a friend’s house or somewhere like a shop where there are lots of people around.

Tell them how important it is to tell someone, such as their mum, dad, carer, teacher, a police officer or a grown up you trust right away, so that the police can investigate.