AN ABDUCTION inquiry has been called off after the suspected kidnappers admitted it was joke gone wrong.

Three 13-year-old girls contacted police earlier this week to say a man had tried to force one of them into the back of a van in Swallow Drive, near Whalley Range, Blackburn.

But, following police inquiries and a witness appeal through the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, the men have come forward to explain their actions.

The men said they had no intention of abducting the girls and were just playing a joke.

Police initially treated the incident very seriously, saying the girls had been left terrified.The girls told officers they had been followed as they walked home from the Vue Cinema off Lower Audley Street at 11pm on Sunday.

In Swallow Drive, they claimed a blue Transit van drove past them and turned around before coming to a quick halt.

They told officers someone shouted: "Get them in the van" and one of the girls was grabbed.

However, she said she struggled free and ran away without being harmed. It is understood the girls should have been able to anticipate the incident was a joke but they panicked and thought it was a genuine abduction attempt.

The girls did not know the three men who carried out the joke'.

Detective Constable Duncan Whiteley said as a result no further action was being taken by the police.

He added: "We have spoken to all parties involved and are confident that no crime has been committed."