A borough-wide manhunt for a nine-year-old boy has now been called off.

Police swarmed Croydon after the report of a child abduction in New Addington after weeks of attempted abduction reports across Surrey and South London.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said: “We are satisfied there was no child abduction.”

The boy who reported the abduction said three men in a black Mitsubishi Shogun 4x4, snatched a young boy he was playing with on Wednesday at around 5.50pm.

He ran to nearby houses and alerted residents who then called the police.

A massive operation was launched and officers flooded New Addington looking for the youth.

Forensic teams examined the area where the boy claimed he saw the boy being abducted but found no evidence of the boys claim.

The police helicopter was also scrambled in the hunt.