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Cambridgeshire neglect arrest after boy knocks on stranger's door

Google Buckden town signs on either side of a minor road. Trees and houses in the background.Google
The incident happened in Buckden near Huntingdon

A woman has been arrested after a young boy, wearing only a nappy, banged on a stranger's door in the middle of the night.

It happened in Buckden, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, and the stranger turned out to be an off-duty police officer.

The boy has been temporarily placed in police protection.

He was carrying a mobile phone, which was traced to a home half a mile (0.8km) away.

The off-duty officer was woken up by a young boy screaming and banging on her door at 02:30 GMT on Friday.

Police said the child was wearing just a nappy and had a phone in his hand.

The woman called the police, who traced the phone to a house nearby.

Officers visited the property and arrested a woman on suspicion of child neglect.

Getty Images Young boy sitting on the floor with his head between his kneesGetty Images
Cambridgeshire Police said the incident highlighted the force's "commitment to protecting children"

The force said the Child Abuse Investigation and Safeguarding Unit (CAISU) placed the boy in police protection and he was now in a "safer environment" while investigations continued.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: "A lot of the work from our CAISU team is sensitive in nature and difficult to share, but examples like this highlight work that goes on behind the scenes and helps highlight our commitment to protecting children - a force priority."

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