A HEADTEACHER has appealed for parents to remain calm after reports of a man trying to lure youngsters into his car.

IPSWICH: A headteacher has appealed for parents to remain calm after reports of a man trying to lure youngsters into his car.

Sally Wright said everything possible was being done to keep pupils safe at Piper’s Vale Community School in Raeburn Road, Ipswich.

Mrs Wright said parents had been left “concerned and frightened” by police reports of a man trying to make youngsters go with him.

Police are currently looking for a man following three incidents in Ipswich and one in Lowestoft last week.

Mrs Wright said special assemblies had been held and pupils were being reminded daily about safety.

She said: “I am confident that with the procedures that we have in place the children are safe.

“We don’t want to frighten children and give them an unreasonable level of fear.

“We want them to be aware and sensible, not scared. Equally we want parents to be aware and sensible but to remain calm.”

Michelle Staunton and Vanya Partridge voiced fears for the safety of their children who attend Piper’s Vale school.

The pair said they would be sharing ideas with other concerned parents about how to improve security at the school.

Miss Staunton, 28, whose daughter Courtney, 11, is at the school and Miss Partridge, 32, who is mum to Ronnie and Katelyn, said they would be talking to other parents to try to arrange a meeting to discuss the issue.

The first incident happened between 3.20pm and 3.35pm last Monday in Congreve Road.

An 11-year-old girl was walking along the road when a man approached her and grabbed her arm.

The girl tried to pull away and the man let go, before getting into a black car and driving away.

The second incident occurred between 3pm and 4pm last Tuesday in Morland Road.

A man in a vehicle approached an eight-year-old boy and told him to get in the car. The boy did not get in the vehicle and the man drove off.

There have since been further reports, two of which are being linked to last week’s offences.

The first occurred in Byron Road, Ipswich, when at around 12.50pm last Friday a man in a vehicle stopped a 12-year-old boy as he walked along the road and asked him to get into the vehicle.

The boy then ran off.

The second occurred in Beckham Road, Lowestoft, last Wednesday when a man shouted at a nine-year-old girl from a parked car to get in the car, as she was cycling in the street.

The man then drove off.

Police are looking for a white man, approximately 50 years old, of slim to medium build, balding and who dresses smartly. The vehicle is described as a dark-coloured car.

If anyone has any information about these incidents they are asked to contact Suffolk police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.