Warnings over strangers lurking near Wolverhampton schools

Police officers said today they cannot rule out the cases being linked and have stepped up patrols.

Parents were also advised to drop their children off themselves to ensure their safe arrival or have them walk to school in large groups.

The incidents have occurred twice on Tettenhall Road, once on both Newbridge Crescent and Newhampton Road East and at the playing fields at the back of St Peter's Collegiate School.

It comes after a nine-year-old girl was approached on her way to school by a man who asked her to get into his car in Perton last week.

Police are now speaking to a number of witnesses who are trying to identify the man - or men.

Sergeant Kevin Whitehouse, from the Park Neighbourhood Police Team, said: "We have had a number of different descriptions from each incident and at the moment we can't rule out the possibility that the same man is involved in all of them. We have put together an album of suspects for witnesses to look at so we can try and identify the man."

Patrols have now been stepped up in the Tettenhall Road area, including both high-visibility and plain-clothed surveillance.

In one case, a man, thought to have been drunk at the time, walked up to an 11-year-old girl on the playing fields at the rear of St Peter's Collegiate School at around midday on October 1. After he beckoned her towards him, the girl ran away and the matter was reported to police.

Other incidents of suspicious behaviour were reported in Tettenhall Road on September 29 and October 6, Newhampton Road East on September 26 and Newbridge Crescent on October 3.

The nine-year-old girl in Perton was approached on Thursday. The girl was on Mercia Drive at 8.10am when the driver – described as being aged 35 to 45, white and with a chubby bald head – approached her in his car.

Councillors in Wolverhampton have now issued warnings to parents and pupils about incidents.

St Peter's ward councillor Zahid Shah said: "This is very concerning. As a parent who has a son who goes to school in the area we have already made the decision to get my wife to pick him up from school.

"If parents cannot do the same then I would encourage that children walk home in groups of at least two and three.

"This has been going on for a while and everyone should be keeping vigilant."

Tettenhall Regis councillor Jonathan Yardley added: "This is of course an extremely serious matter and I expect the authorities to do everything in their power to resolve it immediately and to ensure the safety of our children.

"A lot of children from my ward go to schools in this area so there is a high density of children. As a parent I am worried. I was this stamped out immediately."

Those with information can contact police on 101.