Editorial: Another little girl escapes van man

The best thing for parents to do right now is ensure children know about stranger danger (yell, run and tell). Photo / Ben Fraser

It's the sort of stuff that sends shivers down your spine.

A stranger has apparently approached a little girl in broad daylight as she played out the front of her house on their driveway. The man has tried to get her to go with him by offering her lollies and saying if she gets into his vehicle they could go to the shops and buy more.

The little girl is only 7, but she knew it wasn't right and immediately ran away - informing her parents who were at the rear of the property.

Before doing so, she's managed to get a good description of the man and his vehicle - a white van.

It's a horrible situation for all Rotorua parents to be in right now.

While you could dismiss this as a one off, sadly it's not. Reports of a creepy man driving a white van trying to lure little children in his vehicle have unfortunately been common in Rotorua this year.

It's created concern among parents - and rightly so.

If something dreadful were to happen, we wouldn't forgive ourselves for not taking this seriously.

The best thing for parents to do right now is ensure children know about stranger danger (yell, run and tell) and don't leave them in any situation that is going to cause them unnecessary risk.

And if you're the man in the white van and you're reading this, go and get yourself help and stay away from our children.