POLICE have played down fears the borough's children are at risk of abduction after a second kidnap scare in just over a month.
There were widespread reports of an attempted snatch of an 11-year-old boy outside the Distillers pub in Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, on Friday last week.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council sent an alert to schools following the incident.
But following a police investigation, officers concluded no snatch had happened and said the alert was caused when a boy overheard a 'jocular' conversation between two men about picking children to hand sweets to.
After the incident, director of children services Councillor Andrew Christie wrote to schools, saying: "This is to inform you that there was an attempted abduction of a year 7 student on Fulham Palace Road near the Distillers public house yesterday afternoon.
"The police have been informed. We understand that there may have been at least one similar incident so this is to alert schools/parents to ensure you are aware.”
The council said it adopted a 'safety first' mantra when it came to abduction incidents. There was another scare in October when it was reported a child was subjected to an attempted snatch in Wood Lane, White City.
The claim turned out to be false.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said of the latest incident: “Police were informed about comments heard by a child on Thursday, November 22, in Fulham Palace Road, but no further action is being taken.”
