Parents were on their guard today after another two child abduction attempts last night.

In two separate incidents, a boy and a girl were approached in Worthing.

Police warned parents to be vigilant, especially when children are going to and from school.

In the first attempted abduction, a nine-year-old girl was grabbed by a man in the street as she walked home from a friend's house at about 4pm.

The girl managed to break free of the man's grasp and he made off in a white vehicle down Lanfranc Road.

The attacker was described as a man with short, dark hair, about 5ft 8in tall, with slight stubble.

At 6.15pm a 12-year-old boy was also approached in Ham Road, East Worthing, by a man driving an orange transit van.

Detective Constable Tim Hughes, of Worthing CID, said the man beckoned to the schoolboy from the van, and when he didn't respond he leapt out of the vehicle and chased him.

The boy fled to a nearby shop for safety and the man drove away. He was described as in his thirties, of large build, with dark hair. Mr Hughes said the boy was very distressed after the incident.

Police are not currently linking any of the attempted abductions. Detective Constable Gary Hankey said: "They are not being linked at this stage because there are differences in the descriptions and vehicles.

"It wouldn't be right for us to link them now because we are still at an early stage in the investigation."

This is the fourth report of an attempted child abduction in the last 12 days.

A seven-year-old girl was snatched from a party and pushed to the ground by a man at Portslade Town Hall in Victoria Road earlier this week.

And a three-year-old girl was grabbed while she was in a play area in Southwick with her mother on March 12.

Mr Hughes said: "Parents should be aware of what is going on and should show greater vigilance because we have had a few incidents like this recently."

He said if children were approached they should walk way, go to a safe place like a shop where other people would be present and report the incident immediately.

Witnesses to the attempted abduction of a three-year-old girl from her mother at Southwick Green on March 12 have come forward.

Police are still keeping an open mind about a possible link with the abduction of a seven-year-old girl a week later from a family birthday party at Portslade Town Hall when she was bundled through a hole in a nearby fence and pushed into bushes.