An urgent appeal has been launched to help find a young boy who got onto a bus in slippers and a dressing gown in a ‘distressed state’ on Saturday night.

Police say the boy, aged 11 or 12, was heading towards Derby at around 10.15pm.

The boy told the bus driver he had been staying with friends in the Stapleford area of Nottinghamshire and was heading towards Chaddesden in Derby.

CCTV images released this morning show the youngster wearing a black Puma hoodie under the dressing gown.

He was seen getting off the bus near the Old Rock pub in Stapleford and walking back towards Nottingham.

Police said it was believed he did not have access to money and it is thought that the battery in the mobile phone he was carrying had run out.

Inspector Paul Hennessy said: ‘This is a particularly unusual case which gives us real cause for concern for the boy’s safety, due to the time of night, the unusual circumstances, his distressed state and the fact he is not believed to have access to suitable clothing, money or a mobile phone to contact his friends and family.

‘I need to be absolutely clear that the boy is not in any trouble whatsoever and that our priority is to establish the circumstances surrounding this report, to identify and locate the boy and to ensure that he is safe and well.’

Police are conducting house-to-house inquiries and are treating their investigation as a search for a missing person.

The boy is white, with dark hair and was last seen wearing a grey dressing gown, black pyjama bottoms, black slippers and white socks.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting incident 926 of August 10.

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