SIR – I am writing to you following a rather frightening experience that I had in Stevenage Town Centre today. I, through my own fault, misplaced one of my children while I was shopping in Woolworth s. Having searched the store for around 10 minutes, I ca

SIR - I am writing to you following a rather frightening experience that I had in Stevenage Town Centre today.

I, through my own fault, misplaced one of my children while I was shopping in Woolworth's. Having searched the store for around 10 minutes, I came to the conclusion that in fact, my child was nowhere to be seen inside or outside the store.

I knew that my child would not walk away from the store as I, like most parents, tell their children to stay where they are if they get lost. I contacted a member of Woolworth's staff who promptly alerted all the other members of staff within the shop and also contacted the town's main security centre.

Within minutes, my child's description was sent to all the other stores within the town centre and CCTV cameras were put on full alert to search for my child. While this was being done, a member of staff from Woolworth's contacted the police directly to inform them of the situation.

It was now around 25 minutes since my child had gone missing and I was getting extremely frantic but then, thanks to this quick and efficient service, my child was indeed seen by the CCTV cameras and the information was related back to Woolworth's via walkie talkie and I was reunited with my child.

I cannot praise this excellent system enough and am grateful to all concerned who helped me, especially Diane of Woolworth's, who without her quick thinking, I have no doubt, things could have been quite different.

TERESA BETTS

Stevenage