Three minors of some 12 years of age disappeared one day from school and created huge social alarm over a supposed paedophile when in reality they had simply skived off classes.

Members of the Estepona Local Police and the Policia Nacional were out looking for a non-existent paedophile, after receiving an alarm call from a local junior school to say three girl pupils were missing. The parents, after being informed by the school, also telephoned the police, worried out of their minds.

In the end, the three girls were found together not far from the school, but when quizzed as to why they were not at their classes, they claimed that a man had kidnapped them and had molested them. They even described the non-existent culprit as tall, dark and wearing a lot of clothing, without specifying any details.

Armed with this information a large percentage of local police manpower was sent out on a wild-goose chase, as well as parents and teachers.

The three girls, no doubt scared into telling the truth by the scale on which things had developed, confessed that they had simply decided to jump classes.

(News: Estepona, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)