POLICE have decided no offence took place when a man grabbed a child's wrist outside Parkfield Primary School, in Taunton.

Detectives investigated the incident, which happened at 3.30pm on Thursday, November 9, after the child's parents reported it to police.

Following a witness appeal, CCTV and house to house enquiries and police patrols, a man was arrested.

In a letter sent to local schools yesterday (Tuesday, November 14), DCI Tom Herbert said: "The man, who is a father himself, has helped our enquiries and produced a full account of what happened that day.

"We are satisfied having evaluated all the available evidence his actions were a split second attempt to briefly help a passing child and were not an attempt to act in a malicious or criminal way, and therefore the child was not at risk of harm."

The letter seeks to reassure parents after the incident was reported on social media and in the media.

DCI Herbert added: "The child's family did absolutely the right thing in reporting their concerns to the police.

"There is nothing of greater concern to any parent than the safety of their child and we know their call to us was made with the best intentions.

"Their report enabled us to act quickly to identify the man involved and establish a complete picture of what happened."

Police are continuing to operate their patrols in the area at school drop off and pick up times to reassure parents and children.