Car-jackers dump children in street

Detectives are hunting car-jackers who dumped two young children in a city street after stealing the vehicle from their mother.

The siblings, aged just one and five, were abandoned around half a mile away from the initial scene of the crime in Erdington, Birmingham.

Officers from West Midlands Police are still attempting to trace the family's white Vauxhall Astra, which was taken by two men at about 5.45pm on Wednesday.

A police spokesman said the children were strapped into the rear seats of the Astra when their mother, aged 23, was dragged out of the driver's seat in Pintail Drive.

The spokesman said: "Her two children - aged five years old and 18 months old - were driven for around half a mile before being dropped off by the thieves at the roadside in Mere Road, where they were found unhurt by a passer-by and quickly reunited with their mother."

Detectives are now conducting an extensive CCTV trawl of the local area in the hope of plotting the Astra's route.

Detective Sergeant Julie Woods, who is working on the inquiry, said: "The car is a white Vauxhall Astra registration number KV60 BNX and had blacked out windows.

"We want to know where this car is and are asking for anyone who believes they may have spotted it to contact us.

"This was a frightening ordeal for the mum who saw her young children being driven off by the car thieves, but thankfully they were back with her unhurt in just a matter of minutes."

Anyone with information about the robbery is urged to call West Midlands Police on 101.