The police have issued a statement after two incidents of suspicious circumstances in which a woman was alleged to have touched two children.

Further to an appeal which was launched earlier in the week, detectives can now confirm no criminal offences have occurred.

It was reported that on Tuesday an unknown woman had touched the hand of a child at Happy Tots Nursery in Egerton Road in Blackpool and had then left the area.

It was also reported that on Wednesday, a woman grabbed the hand of a boy, aged three, while he walked with his mother on Clevedon Road, also in Blackpool.

Both incidents have been investigated thoroughly and police say they are now satisfied that while both were reported in good faith, no offences have taken place.

DI Jamie Lillystone, of Blackpool CID, said: “Both of these incidents have been thoroughly investigated by a large team of detectives and there is now clear evidence that nothing untoward has occurred.

“The first incident was reported in good faith but from CCTV it is clear that the woman walking past the nursery has not made any physical contact with any child, nor attempted to grab her.

“The second incident has also been resolved and the woman identified and we have confirmed that she simply stopped to offer assistance to the young boy, who had walked slightly ahead of his mother. Again, there have not been any criminal offences committed.

“We always take these types of reports extremely seriously and we would like to thank the public for their assistance while we investigated these matters.”