A FOREST mum insists her daughter was the target of an attempted abduction despite the police insisting it was a misunderstanding.

Claire Lewis of Yorkley contacted the Review after reading a statement from police in last week's paper stating that they had received no first-hand reports from anyone who had been approached.

Gloucestershire Police say they believe eight-year-old Josie-Mai misunderstood what a van driver had said and they were not treating it as an attempted abduction.

Mrs Lewis said: "My daughter was approached on September 12 and she came home screaming and she was in a terrible state.

"I reported it to the police and they were here within 10 minutes because there had been something going on in Whitecroft that afternoon.

"After I reported it I was given a crime number.

"When I read in the Review that the police were saying they hadn't received any reports I felt as if they were calling my daughter a liar.

"I put it on Facebook to warn other parents in the area about what was going on."

Mrs Lewis said her daughter, Josie-Mai had been frightened by news reports of the disappearance of April Jones in Machynlleth.

"Every time she sees something about Åpril she freaks."

A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said: "We had a report that on the afternoon of Wednesday September 12 an eight-year-old girl was approached in Lower Yorkley by two men in a white van who asked her if she would like to see some kittens that were in the back.

"Officers attended the incident and a search of the area was carried out.

"A boy who was with the girl was spoken to and told officers he believed the man in the van had in fact asked if there were 'any children at the back of his van' before he reversed.

"While we completely understand the concern of the girl's parents we do not believe this was an attempted abduction."