Primary school pupil approached by a man in a car and forcefully asked to get in

The incident happened near Kelston Primary School in the west of the city yesterday. Photo / Google Maps

Police are investigating after a boy was "forcefully asked" to get in a man's car while he was on his way to school in west Auckland.

The pupil from Kelston Primary School was approached by the stranger in a car, as he was walking along Archibald Rd, Kelston yesterday morning.

In a letter sent to parents, Kelston Primary School principal Cliff Hughes said the boy was "forcefully asked to get in the car".

Hughes said the pupil "thankfully" applied the skills he had learned from the school's Keeping Ourselves Safe programme.

"He acted quickly, moving towards a nearby house, yelling for help. This caused the man to drive off," he wrote.

"The police have been notified and are dealing with the situation."

Hughes said the school was taking the matter "very seriously" and had discussed some steps to take "if a driver stops and asks you for directions" or you think someone is following you, with the children on Friday.

"We would strongly recommend that you also discuss them with your child at home," Hughes said.

The school has also warned other schools in the area of the incident.

Police are treating the incident as suspicious at this stage. Officers have spoken with the boy and staff at the school.

There have been similar reports in the past few months outside schools in the west of the city.

An 11-year-old boy was abducted and sexually assaulted in Ranui in November.

Police said a man in a grey van asked the boy for directions before driving him to an unknown location and sexually assaulting him. The boy arrived home four hours later.

Six days later, on November 23, an 11-year-old girl reportedly fled a man driving a dark red or maroon four-wheel drive while she waited for a school bus on Wairere Rd, Waitakere.

The next day, a man asked two 12-year-old boys walking home from school to get in his dark-coloured ute on Swanson Rd in Ranui.

An intermediate-aged girl was also asked to get into a stranger's vehicle on Summit Dr in Henderson in December.