POLICE have called off an investigation into an attempted child abduction - saying they don’t believe it actually happened.

A 10-year-old girl from Cleveland told police that a man had attempted to grab her in Barnard Castle, County Durham on Monday, May 25.

The girl, who was at the town’s annual Meet carnival with her family at the time, said she was approached by a hooded man with a scarred face who was wearing gloves.

She said the man tried to grab her from behind as she walked through the Hole-in-the-Wall car park in the centre of the town.

He asked her to get in his black convertable car where another man, wearing a blue shirt and white gloves, was waiting. Officers interviewed the girl several times last week and appealed to the public for sightings of the black convertible car.

The police were also eager to find two women who spoke to girl immediately after the alleged incident.

But after a week of investigations and dozens of calls from the public, police have stopped the search.

Sergeant Chris Knox, from Barnard Castle police said: “We are no longer investigating this offence because we are satisfied that no offence has actually taken place.

“We would like to thank the public for coming forward with information in relation to this, however there is no need for them to continue to do so.”