Police hunt men who lured boys

DANGER: Two men asked two boys to get in their van by the playground in Martinborough. PHOTO/FILE.

Police are still looking for two men who tried to entice two Martinborough schoolboys into a white van.

Last Thursday around 3.15pm, the boys aged 10 and 11, were approached separately at the playground near the Martinborough Town Hall.

The men pulled up in a van and asked them to get in but both refused and ran for help.

Detective Sergeant Glen Jackson said police had followed a number of leads from the public but hadn't found the men yet.

"We had a really good response over the weekend, people told us about a number of white vans they've seen.

"We don't believe we've identified the one we are looking for."

Mr Jackson said there hadn't been any other reports of similar suspicious activity.

He said they would like the men to come forward.

"We really don't know what their motives were."

The boys did the right thing by not engaging with them, he said.

Chair of the Martinborough Community Board, Lisa Cornelissen, said she had never heard of anything like it in Martinborough.

"People are aware and concerned."

Since the incident, the school community has been advising parents to remind their children about stranger danger.

CAN YOU HELP?

The driver is described as a skinny male of European descent with red hair, aged mid-20s to 30s, with some form of facial hair.

The passenger is a male Maori or Pacific Islander, aged 40 to 50, fat or solidly built, with longer dark hair. Both were wearing blue overalls with some kind of red tubing or piping down the side.

The vehicle is described as an older model white van with tinted rear windows and without hub caps.

People with information can call Mr Jackson on his direct line (06) 370 0306 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.