A MASSIVE police operation has been launched following reports of a boy being gagged and thrown into the back of a car in Woodrow area of Redditch on Wednesday night.

Police received a report just before 7.15pm that a boy, aged about nine, had been abducted by a middle aged man from Tredington Close.

The boy is described as white, about 4ft tall, with short brown hair and dark eyes, possibly brown. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and darker blue, silky tracksuit bottoms.

The man reported to have abducted him was white, aged 45-50 with white/grey hair and a bald patch. He had a tanned complexion. He was wearing black clothing and was described as having a scruffy appearance. The car he was in was red and similar to a Vauxhall Astra.

Acting Superintendent Kevin Purcell said: "We are following reports that a boy was grabbed, had tape put around his mouth and bungled into the back of a car.

"Although we do not have a report of a missing child that fits the description we must treat this as an incident that did occur.

"We are comfortable that we have taken the right decision to treat this as an abduction."

He added: "At the present time we have 60 officers working on this going house-to-house and we have made sure we have circulated an appeal.

"We are appealing for witnesses and anyone with a red Vauxhall Astra to come forward. We also have a report of a female walking a dog in the area at the time this took place."

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the police immediately on 08457 444888 or 999.