Warning over abductor as four-year-old is found

Police are hunting a "very dangerous" child abductor after a four- year-old girl was found yesterday wandering the streets 35 miles from her home. They said the incident mirrored the kidnapping of a five-year- old girl in May. Both girls were found in the same area.

Det Supt Dave Wilson, of Northumbria police, said: "There is a very dangerous man on the loose.We are worried that he may have been behind both abductions."

The victim in the first incident was found two miles from the area of Darlington, Co Durham, where the four-year-old was found yesterday. She disappeared at about 7.30pm on Monday while playing outside near her home in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The girl, who was examined by doctors last night, was found following an extensive search launched after she was seen walking hand-in-hand with a man in his forties.

More than 17 hours later, residents of Bulmer Square, Darlington, reported they had found the girl wandering in their street. The youngster snatched in May from another part of Newcastle was found by taxi driver Darren Lambert near a churchyard in Vane Terrace, Darlington.

The four-year-old was back in her mother's arms this afternoon after an emotional reunion at Darlington police station.