2-in-3 ‘would not help a child’

Nearly two in three people would hesitate to help a child who appeared lost for fear of being falsely accused, a new survey has found.

In research for the NSPCC, 64% of UK adults said they would be concerned about being wrongly suspected or that someone would misunderstand their intentions if they went to the aid of a youngster who seemed to be lost.

Nearly half of the 2,899 respondents (45%) said they would stay close by and observe — almost as many as those who said they would approach the child (47%).