A 14-year-old boy was abducted and taken on a terror ride by a man pretending to be a policeman.
The unidentified boy and his friends were playing with waterbombs at Clements Hall leisure centre in Clements Hall Way, Hawkwell.
The youngsters were throwing the waterbombs at each other when a white Ford Mondeo with a K-registration stopped and the driver, a man in his forties, got out.
Sgt Kevin Diable-White from Rayleigh police, said: "The man grabbed the boy and dragged him into the car, falsely claiming he was a police officer.
"He made off with the boy inside the car and drove around before dumping him outside the Bell pub in Prince Avenue, Southend."
The officer said the boy was left extremely distressed by the incident and ran to one of the houses near to the pub to use a phone.
He called his father who came to collect him and alerted the police.
No other assault was carried out on the boy in the apparently motiveless incident.
He was left suffering from shock but did not require hospital treatment.
Sgt Diable-White added: "This man told the boy he was a police officer which was not true. Impersonating a police officer is a serious offence by itself.
"We are keen to trace this man as soon as possible as this was clearly a very frightening ordeal for the boy."
Anyone with information on the incident should contact Det Con Chris Binks at Rochford CID on 01268 775533.
Published Monday, April 28, 2003
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