Man arrested over ‘attempted abduction’ of five-year-old boy in west London

(PA)

A man has been arrested in connection with an alleged attempted abduction of a five-year-old boy in a west London park.

The suspect allegedly picked up the child at around 2.30pm on January 7 at Northala Fields, Northolt, before running a short distance carrying him, said the Metropolitan Police.

The suspect is then said to have put the little boy down after his mother confronted him, and the child was unharmed by the incident.

Scotland Yard said a 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted abduction of a child at an address in Surrey on Saturday and taken into custody.

The force previously put out a CCTV image of the suspect in a bid to track him down.

Detective Constable Ashleigh Nelson said at the time: “Incidents of this nature are very rare but I understand the concern it may have caused in the local community.”

“I want to reassure people we are doing everything we can to find out who is responsible.”