POLICE have moved to reassure the public in Blackburn after rumours of an attempted kidnap had spread across Facebook.

Local schools contacted neighbourhood police after a handful of concerned parents had threatened to keep their children off school.

The Lancashire Telegraph has seen several versions of the Facebook warning message.

One version says: “If anyone sees a dark blue car with blacked out windows around the Lindisfarne Avenue and Highercroft area, or anywhere else nearby, please can you get the registration number of the car and report it to the police.

"There is a man going round trying to abduct children.

"All parents need to pull together and catch this creep before he succeeds in snatching a child.”

But officers are keen to stress that there has been no report of any similar incident.

Neighbourhood Police Sgt for the area Mark Cruise said: “We’ve sent PCSOs into schools to reassure them that this is nothing but a rumour.

“We’ve checked all our reports and have no record of such an incident.

“I’m all for people being vigilant.

“But the spreading of false rumours can qu-ickly get out of control.

"However, if anyone thinks they do have any information, they can always come and speak to me about it.”

In Feburary a pair of teenage girls were responsible for a hoax suicide report that had duped hundreds of people.

News of the ‘death’ of a 16-year-old called Jaydon Rothwell spread throughout Blackburn thanks to the bogus tribute page on Facebook.

More than 2,000 people posted tribute comments on the site after being moved by the apparent tragic death of a local boy following an overdose of mephedrone and vodka.