FOUR people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap after a 13-year-old was approached by two men a van.
North Yorkshire Police said the alleged incident happened in Ripon, on Thursday.
Officers said they were called at about 3.15pm to reports that the teenager had been approached by the men in a white van in Clotherholme Road.
A spokesman said: "Officers immediately began a search of the area. At about 4.20pm, a white Ford Transit van was stopped on the A61."
Officers from North Yorkshire Police's Roads Policing Group tweeted that they stopped the van using a boxing manoeuvre near the village of Harewood.
He said the four men in the vehicle - aged 36, 26, 22 and 20 and from the West Yorkshire area - were arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnap and conspiracy to kidnap. They remain in police custody.
The spokesman said: "Officers are investigating whether this incident is linked to a separate report involving a ten-year-old boy on Lead Lane, Ripon, on Saturday September 12.
"Police have increased patrols in the Ripon area to provide reassurance to local communities."
All four men have been released on bail pending further inquiries, police said.
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