A WARNING to parents by police in Padgate on Saturday afternoon to beware of a suspected child snatcher was a false alarm, a police spokesman said.

The alarm was raised after a dance class finished at Padgate Community Centre and bystanders saw a man behaving suspiciously around one of the young girls.

The man, who was around 6ft tall and wearing a red hat and black glasses, ran off when he was confronted by one of the parents sparking a police hunt that included the use of the force aeroplane.

A police spokesman said: “The man had emerged from some undergrowth and was 100 yards from the child, walking in her direction.

“It was just suspect behaviour and in no way did he attempt to snatch the child but we have to treat reports such as these very seriously.”