Police are urgently hunting for a missing 12-year-old boy who detectives fear is being "hidden" by other children.
Thomas Robinson has been missing since Tuesday, June 28 and was last seen at around 5pm in the Castlefields area of Runcorn, Cheshire.
Cheshire Police fear that Thomas may be being "harboured by other young people across the Merseyside area", Liverpool Echo reports.
The youngster has reportedly been seen in St Helens, according to police, and has links to Liverpool.
Superintendent Michael Evans said: “Thomas is a vulnerable young child, and we are concerned for his welfare and his family are distraught.
“Enquiries to locate him have been ongoing since his disappearance, so far to no avail.
“The 12-year-old was last seen in the Castlefields area of Runcorn and we have also had reported sightings of him in the Moss Bank area of St Helens. We believe he is currently being harboured by other young people across the Merseyside area. I would urge anyone who thinks that they may have seen Thomas since he went missing to get in touch.
“The same goes for anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage of him since he disappeared. I would also appeal directly to Thomas to contact us to let us know that you are safe and well.”
Thomas is described as white, around 5ft tall, with mousy blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a blue Nike bubble jacket, grey tracksuit bottoms and black trainers.
As part of the appeal, Cheshire Police have released two images of Thomas so members of the public know what he looks like should they happen to see him.
Anyone with any information in relation to the whereabouts of Thomas is asked to contact Cheshire Police at https://www.cheshire.police.uk/tell-us or call 101, quoting IML 1304568. Alternatively information can be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers online via https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously or by calling 0800 555 111.
