Parents in Athlone were warned last night not to allow their children go off alone following an attempt by a man to lure an eight-year-old girl into his car at Rosemount, near Moate, on Sunday. The man, who was driving a blue car, either a Micra or a Nissan, told the child he would bring her home. She ran away and told her parents.
A Garda spokesman said last night it was treating the matter with the utmost gravity and warned parents to be on the alert and to advise their children of the dangers.