Bogus officials strip boy, 5 stripped

A mother was "horrified" to discover that two social workers who carried out a strip-search on her five-year-old son at her home were bogus officials, police said yesterday.

Devon and Cornwall Police are hunting the man and woman involved in the incident in Plymouth on Wednesday. Sergeant Nick Yates said: "The child was physically uninjured, but we do not know what effect this has had on him. We want to hear from anyone who thinks they might have had a visit from this couple."

The white couple were allowed into the home in the North Prospect area after producing some form of identification. They told the 31-year-old mother complaints had been made that her son had been assaulted and burned with cigarette ends, said the police.

The police said the man was about 45, 6ft tall, of average build with short mousy hair, and had a moustache with curly ends and a goatee beard. The woman was aged 35, 5ft 2 in, with bobbed, streaked hair.