A new safety scheme has been introduced to provide a hotline for parents who become separated from their children while shopping.
The pioneering Child Safe Shopping scheme kicks off on Saturday (December 12) and has already been trialled at 120 shopping centres cross the UK.
St Nicholas Centre will be the first business in Sutton to introduce the scheme with others set to follow suite.
By calling the dedicated Child Safe number on 08444 48 15 00 parents and guardians will be put in contact with the security team, who will use a coordinated approach and CCTV to re-unite them with their children.
Child Safe was launched in 2003, but has never operated before in Sutton.
The initiative provides children with free wristbands for parents’ or guardians’ contact numbers so that, in the event of a child being lost, the parent or guardian can be contacted quickly.
The wristbands will be available free of charge from St Nicholas Centre and Times Square shopping centres.
Richard Manville, co-founder of Child Safe, said “We are thrilled to launch the first Child Safe scheme in Sutton and are pleased to be working with Sutton Town Centre, who has been very supportive in coordinating the scheme”.
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