Police are urging parents and children to take sensible precautions after a man attempted to abduct a 13-year-old boy in Leigh.
Officers believe the same man may have also approached school children on two previous occasions.
In the most recent incident, at about 5pm yesterday, Thursday 16 December 2010, two brothers aged 12 and 13 were waiting for friends outside St Paul's Church on Westleigh Lane, near the junction with Pickley Green.
A man then got out of a dark green estate car parked nearby and approached them.
He then dragged the older boy into his car via the back passenger door. The younger brother then punched the man in the face and he let go of the other boy, enabling him to get out of the car.
Both boys then ran off and raised the alarm with their mother who called the police.
Neither boy was harmed although both were left upset by the incident.
In the first incident, at about 8.30am on Wednesday 8 December 2010, a man in a green estate drove past a schoolgirl on Maple Crescent and appeared to be committing an indecent act.
In the second incident, between 8.30am and 9am on Thursday 9 December 2010, five teenage schoolgirls were standing at a Bickershaw Lane bus stop when a man in a green estate car drove by them three times, again committed an indecent act.
The offender in all three incidents is described as white, aged between 30 and 40 with a bulky build, bald and driving a new-looking green estate that was dirty.
Chief Inspector Clara Williams, based at Wigan, said: This is a worrying series of incidents, especially yesterday's in which a man has attempted to force a boy into his car.
Thankfully the boy's quick-thinking brother intervened and they managed to get away. I don't want to alarm anyone unnecessarily but I am now asking people to take some sensible precautions such as asking their children to go out in pairs if possible and reminding them that they should not talk to strangers and under no circumstances get into a stranger's car.
"We are very keen to trace this man to speak to him about what he was doing. We have increased patrols in the area, and I would reassure people that there is no need to be overly alarmed."
Anyone with information is asked to call Wigan CID on 0161 856 7259 or independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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