POLICE have been called to investigate an alleged incident in which four children claim they endured a horrifying ordeal at the hands of an over-zealous security guard.

The incident near to Morrisons in Riversway on Tuesday (July 13), saw one girl being dragged in to the store after being cornered by a security guard.

The guard doesn't work for Morrisons. The store says it is 'very worried' about the incident.

According to angry parent Barry Gibbs, whose step-daughter Samantha Donnelly, 13, was there at the time, the youngest girl in the group, Nicola Gregg, aged just 10, was body-searched before being hauled into the store, where staff tried to defuse the situation.

Both girls had their purses rifled and belongings taken.

Barry, of Ashton, said: "This man then bundled Nicola into the car and said he was driving her home.

"Then he spotted the rest of the group, two boys and Samantha, and chased them in the car for about quarter of a mile before cornering them in Mersey Street.

"He ran after them on foot before grabbing them and bundling them in to the car. They were kicking and screaming and at one point the 'guard' lifted one of them off the floor by their jumper.

"I am so angry."

Barry added: "If he does work for somebody else then he has no right being on Morrison's land and he certainly doesn't have the right to pick children up off the street and drive them home. That is tantamount to being a vigilante. It appals me." Barry says a representative of Sector Security of Lancaster Road, which the guard is believed to have worked for, has apologised to him.

A spokesman for Morrisons said the incident was causing concern, adding: "This is very worrying. We are aware of the firm involved, but they do not work for us.

"We use Sabre Watch, as do many retailers."

A spokesman for Lea Police said: "We are investigating the matter and will be speaking to all concerned."

Sector Security's managing director, Margaret Wilson, was unavailable for comment.

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