SCHOOLCHILDREN are being warned not to accept lifts off strangers after high school girls were approached by a motorist.

The pupils were leaving Heathfield High in Congleton at mid-afternoon when a man stopped his car in Box Lane and asked if they wanted a lift.

The girls said no, but the incident has prompted Congleton police to stress to young people the importance of not talking to strangers or accepting lifts off them.

In a similar incident children were walking in Astbury Street, Congleton, when they were approached by a man in a similar car to that in the Heathfield incident.

"The car in both incidents was champagne in colour, and the man who stopped in Box Lane is described as in his 50s," said community safety officer WDC Julie Ledgar.

"We do not know whether the offer of the lift to the girls was an innocent gesture or something suspicious, as it was raining at the time.

"However both incidents provide the ideal opportunity for us to stress the Stranger Danger message.

"Children should never go off with someone they do not know, and if they are approached by a stranger they should tell a responsible adult, such as their parent, teacher or a police officer."

The police would like to talk to the man in the champagne coloured car.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.