EIGHT police forces have teamed up with media organ-isations, including Chronicle publisher Trinity Mirror Cheshire, to launch a major child protection initiative.
The Child Rescue Alert (CRA), launched in the North West, North Wales and the Isle of Man on Monday, will provide an 'early warning' system when police believe a child has been abducted.
It is based on an American system developed following the abduction and murder of a nine-year-old Texan girl in 1996.
It will seek urgent help from the public to find an abducted child when police fear the child will be seriously harmed or killed.
Police will issue regular bulletins on broadcast media - interrupting programmes if needed - asking the public to report sightings of the child.
And newspaper editors across the region have also offered support by posting details on newspaper websites and also in print.
Cheshire's assistant chief con-stable, Garry Sherwan, said: 'If we had a case that fits the criteria we would be able to ask the media to alert the public quickly in the very early stages of the investigation.
'We would hope people would in turn act as our eyes and ears and contact us with any relevant information that could help us find and recover the child safely.
'This initiative has met with a very positive response from the media who are clearly very keen to help. The key issue is the preservation of the child's life. The CRA will be a fantastic tool to help us get the message out and possibly save the child.
'However, speed will need to be balanced by checks to ensure we don't overuse the system - we want the public to understand that we will only launch a CRA in truly exceptional circumstances so they appreciate just how serious it is.'
Alerts will go out if the child is under 18, there is a reasonable belief the child has been abducted and police feel they are in imminent danger.
