Police have launched an urgent appeal for a missing boy in pyjamas who was last seen boarding a bus in a "distressed state".
The child, though to be aged 11 or 12, was in slippers and a dressing gown when he stepped onto the bus on Saturday night.
Nottinghamshire Police were called at around 10.15pm after he stepped on a bus headed for Derby.
Officers said he told the bus driver he had been staying with friends in the Stapleford area of Nottinghamshire and was heading towards Chaddesden.
However, he was seen to get off the bus near the Old Rock pub and began to walk back towards Nottingham.
Inspector Paul Hennessy, who is leading Nottinghamshire Police's response to the report, 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.
