SHARP-EYED Lesley Potter helped end a nationwide hunt for a paedophile on the run with a 12-year-old boy by striking up a conversation with them.

Lesley first became suspicious after spotting James Warke and young Martin Duguid on Sunday evening on Worthing seafront.

She thought she recognised the pair, who disappeared from Blackburn, Lancashire, seven days ago. But she became more convinced after seeing a late TV bulletin that night and bumping into the pair again yesterday.

She said: "The first time I was out for a walk with my husband David.

"I saw a man and a child by the sea and I just thought: 'Oh, I wonder if that is the man and the child who have disappeared'.

"I don't know what made me suspicious but there was just something about them." Then yesterday morning, while out skating, Lesley, a Sainsbury's food adviser who lives in Western Row, Worthing, spotted them again.

She said: "I decided to strike up a conversation with them and see if they had northern accents, as I knew they were from Blackburn."

She waited by the pier, adjusting her skates, in the hope they would stop and say something.

She said: "Then it finally happened. The child asked me how much my boots were and complimented me on them.

"I noticed he had a northern accent but I then wanted the man to speak."

When he eventually joined in the conversation, Lesley, by then shaking because of what she had done, called the police.

She said: "I think my information allowed the police to pinpoint the pair and other people also called in with assistance."

Another woman, who does not want to be identified, also chatted to the pair while out walking her dog.

She said: "He said he was staying down here and wanted to find work in the area as he was unemployed."

Again, her suspicions were confirmed when she saw another TV bulletin.

She added: "When I saw the photographs of them I thought 'that's them'. I took the dog for a walk and saw them again in a shelter near Marine Parade, called the police and that was that.

"I am just pleased that the boy is safe and well."

Police have praised both women for tipping them off.

Warke, arrested in Steyne Gardens at 10.20am, is still being quizzed by detectives while Martin was due to be reunited with his mother and father.

PC Chris Saunders, Sussex Police press officer for Highdown Division, said: "It is fantastic that residents of Worthing have come forward and helped us with a national inquiry."

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