A TEN-year-old boy playing in his Southampton school grounds was grabbed round the neck and pulled through the gates in an attempted abduction.

Police have now stepped up patrols and are warning parents to be vigilant after the incident at Thornhill Primary School, Byron Road, on Tuesday, June 26.

The boy was playing in the playground at the rear of the school site between 10.40am and 10.55am when the man approached him, grabbed him by the neck and attempted to pull him through the school gate on to nearby Donkey Common.

A police spokeswoman said: "The boy put up a struggle and the man then walked away towards the common.

"The victim was shaken but otherwise uninjured."

The man is described as white, possibly a teenager, at least 5ft tall with a goatee-style beard.

He was wearing a blue/black-coloured baseball cap with a tick symbol at the front, blue/black-coloured tracksuit bottoms and a jacket with two white vertical stripes across the neck, bottom and arms.

Inspector Tim Boennic said: "I do not want to cause unnecessary alarm to parents but I would urge them to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious to police immediately."