POLICE are urging members of the public to sign up to a service that could save a child’s life.

Child Rescue Alert is a system designed to quickly inform the public about the abduction of a child, or the disappearance of child deemed by police to be at high risk of harm.

An alert can be sent directly to individuals by text message and email as well as via television, radio and social media.

People can join the alert system by texting the word HERO and their postcode to 85080, or register free at www.childrescuealert.org.uk.

Durham Constabulary Safeguarding unit manager, Helen Murphy, said: “Child abductions are extremely rare, as are reports of children going missing in circumstances where they are considered in imminent danger of harm.

"But, if a child is abducted, time is of the essence and the initial hours after they have gone missing are crucial if they are to be found safe. In such circumstances a sighting by a member of the public could be a life-saver.”

Police will only activate Child Rescue Alert for a missing child under the age of 18, when there is a perception that the child is in imminent danger of serious harm and there is sufficient information available to enable the public to assist police in locating the child, so the public know what to look out for.

Child Rescue Alert is a partnership between the National Crime Agency, the Missing People charity and education technology company Groupcall. It has been available as a national policing tool since 2008 and was enhanced in 2014 to allow the public to become involved thanks to funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund. It has been used three times in the UK.

This year the service is being funded by Royal Mail, which has registered the handheld devices of 123,000 postmen and women across the UK to receive alerts.

All Durham Constabulary mobile phones used by its workforce are also registered with the system.

Over 315,000 people are currently registered to receive targeted Child Rescue Alerts, which are issued by the charity Missing People at the request of police.

Ms Murphy said: “We hope we never need to use Child Rescue Alert but should the unthinkable happen we will be in a much better position to find the missing child if we have as many eyes as possible on the lookout for them.”

Missing People charity patron, Stephen Fry, who appears as the animated hero in its alert promotion campaign, said: “I believe that Child Rescue Alert should be a national institution – something for everyone to find out about and sign up to. It reminds me of a fire extinguisher – everyone should have one ready to use at a moment’s notice but we all hope that we will never need it.”