A SEVEN-year-old boy sparked a huge police investigation last night after telling his parents a man had tried to ‘make me his dog’.

The boy had been playing in the Chingford Bank area of Burnley and put a cable tie round his neck.

But police said he ran home panicking, blue in the face because he couldn’t get the ligature off.

Officers said he told his mum, who was watching TV at the time, that an older man had done it and 'wanted him to be his dog'.

His horrified parents contacted police around 7.30pm and the overnight detective team was immediately notified.

Burnley CID continued the investigation on Thursday morning until just after 11am this morning, when the boy told his sister that he had invented the story.

She told their parents and officers were informed.

Detective Constable Sarah Beckley, of Burnley CID, said: “He had decided to put the cable tie on his own neck and panicked.

"He was going blue in the face and got scared and told his parents that someone had done it to him.

“When we received the call, we start to think there’s a predator on the loose.

"Clearly there is not and thankfully it has come to nothing.”

A statement was obtained from the seven-year-old’s mum and his first account was obtained.

The cable tie, which had been cut off before police arrived, was seized for forensic examination and several uniformed officers began house to house inquiries as well as securing CCTV footage from the local area.

The scene was examined by crime scene investigation officers and a search for a man described by the boy as ‘in his 40s, balding, with a belly’ began.

DC Beckley added: “Thankfully we didn’t pick anyone up with matching that description.

"If we had someone in custody that’s how rumours start.”

At 11.15am, when specially trained officers returned to the boy’s house to video interview him, the truth came tumbling out.

DC Beckley explained: “It was a snowball effect and I think when he said it he didn’t quite expect the police response.

"He was quite upset and only seven so we just gave him some words of advice.

“He did’t realise the impact of what he’d said.

"His parents were relieved in one respect, but understandably a bit upset too.”