Man charged after toddler carried off at Morrisons supermarket

The three-year-old girl was taken from a moving walkway at a Morrisons store in Blackburn

Morrisons store in Railway Road, Blackburn (Google Maps )

A man has been charged after a toddler was carried off by a stranger at a supermarket in Lancashire. (*See update below.)

The three-year-old girl was taken from a moving walkway, in what police have described as a "distressing incident” at a Morrisons store in Railway Road in Blackburn at 3pm on Thursday.

The girl had been walking to the car park with her mother and five-year-old sister when she was picked up by the man.

He allegedly carried her for a short distance near the entrance of the store before putting her down again, when she ran back to her mother.

The man left the shop soon after.

Following an appeal for information a man was arrested by Lancashire Police on suspicion of child abduction.

On Saturday evening, detectives charged 44-year-old Mohmed Dadhiwala of Chester Street, Blackburn, with taking a child in order to remove them from a person having lawful control.

He is due to appear at Blackburn Magistrates' Court on Monday.

*Update: Mohmed Dadhiwala was cleared in April 2017 when prosecutors offered no evidence as his trial got underway. He had spent six months in prison awaiting trial, having been denied bail. He subsequently spoke about his experience to the Lancashire Telegraph. 2/8/17