Siblings abducted during contact visit

Police are searching for four children whose parents abducted them
from the care of social services during a contact visit.

The children, three boys and a girl aged three to 12, are subjects
of an interim care order and were being looked after by Shropshire
social services.

They were taken by their mother Sharon Richards, 35, and father,
Steven Hayward, 33, from social services offices during a
supervised visit last weekend.

Police believe they were driven off in a small white car and may
have fled to Ireland, where Richards has relatives.

Terry Jones, head of children and families at Shropshire social
services, said the council would investigate why the pair had been
left unsupervised and could leave the building.