Runaway naked boy '˜running through traffic' in Portsmouth sparks police response

Nick Martell, 55, and his wife Teresa, 61, were on their way to Tesco today when they saw the six-year-old youngster and his brother, four, running around on their own.

He saw the two boys in Lake Road, in Portsmouth, quickly turning his car around to help.

He said: ‘I thought “this is ridiculous” how could something like this happen nowadays? My wife felt sick and my heart was going.

‘It was lucky that the right people were around.’

Theresa scooped up the younger of the two, as another man took the older one to his mother nearby. The man used a blanket to cover up the boy.

Teresa said: ‘It was just horrifying.

‘People couldn’t believe this child was running around. People were doing double takes.

‘When you’re grandparents it’s just hits home a little bit, a naked child running around the streets.’

A Hampshire police spokesman said: ‘We were called at 10.18am by a member of the public reporting two young children walking alone.’

The children were reunited with their parents and no crimes were identified.