Police launched a major search operation when a girl's bike was found abandoned on a pathway just half an hour after a park bailiff had seen her feeding the ducks on the nearby lake.
Masses of uniformed officers descended on the local beauty spot, divers were called in to search the lake and the force helicopter was dispatched to scour the area from the skies.
But thankfully, after widespread media appeals and door to door enquiries, police were able to confirm the 10-year-old girl was fine last Tuesday evening.
They had stressed from the start of their search that no children had been reported missing but that they were keen to establish the whereabouts of the child.
The man who raised the alarm, park bailiff Robert Dunn, this week praised the 'brilliant' response of police.
He described how his heart had sunk when he realised the abandoned bicycle and bread bags belonged to the same girl he had spoken to earlier in the evening.
"I thought straight away she had either been abducted or something bad had happened," said Mr Dunn. "
"I phoned the police straight away. The response was brilliant.
"Within three minutes the park was swarmed and within 10 minutes the helicopter was up and they had cordoned everything off.
"They even went round the streets with Tannoys."
Insp Sean Konsek, who led the enquiry, told Chad: "It was a wonderful outcome, the best possible end to a very difficult 24 hours.
"I would like to think that the response the police gave was commensurate to the problem.
"I thought it was appropriate and proportionate in that we had got a girl of 10 whose whereabouts could not be accounted for."
He said police had since reviewed the case and agreed that if similar circumstances arose again, they would do the same.
"You have got to keep your mind open to the possibilities of what might develop — thankfully it all ended well," he said.
Officers interviewed the girl on Wednesday and are satisfied that nothing untoward happened to frighten her and that she simply became distracted and forgot her bike, which she has now been reunited with.