Police say they are concerned for a toddler’s safety after a report of man kicking a child.

An abuse probe was triggered after the child was reportedly seen being shaken on Worthing seafront.

Detectives were last night still trying to identify the man and the child involved.

Officers were called to the seafront, near The Lido, at about 10.25am on Friday.

They were told a man had been seen shaking a toddler aged between a year and 15-months-old.

The child was reportedly dropped on the floor and kicked.

The man was then reported to have left pushing the toddler in a dark blue buggy and was last seen heading towards Montague Street.

Police said they searched the area, contacting town centre businesses and trawling CCTV footage, without success.

They appealed yesterday for the public’s help finding the man and the child.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "An extensive search of the area was made by a number of officers, utilising the Shopwatch system and CCTV, but were unable to find the pair.

"Police are extremely concerned regarding this welfare of the child and need to locate the man involved as a matter of urgency."

The man was described as white, about 5ft 8in, aged between 40 and 42, with short grey hair.

He was wearing a red jacket with black on both sides and a black hood, black trousers and black trainers.

The child was wearing a hat.

The number of reports of abuse or neglect in Sussex has risen by about 40% since the death of Peter Connelly, Baby P, in North London, was made public.

Last month a social worker at Brighton and Hove City Council said the extra strain on staff and a backlog of incidents to investigate was “an accident waiting to happen”.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sussex Police on 0845 6070999 quoting serial 796 of December 18.