AN Indian family are claiming a nine-year-old boy abandoned at a Southall health clinic last week is their missing son.

Gurrinder Singh, who only speaks Punjabi, was found by police after being left by a man he described as his uncle at a clinic in Hartington Road, at around 4.30pm, on Tuesday, March 18.

Now a family from the north Indian state of Bihar have come forward claiming Gurrinder is actually their son, Shintu, who was snatched in March 2005, aged six.

The youngster told officers, through an interpreter, his "uncle" had left him after they travelled to the area on a bendy bus, believed to be the number 207 which runs between Hayes and Shepherd's Bush along the Uxbridge Road.

He said they lived together in a three-bedroom house and he has been in Britain for two to three years. His uncle is described as white, in his 30s, of slim build and around 5ft 8ins tall.

Police are looking into the possibility that Gurrinder may have been caught up in a child trafficking ring, something Ealing Southall MP Virendra Sharma says has "shocked and concerned" the whole community.

He said: "I was in Southall over the weekend talking to people and they are naturally concerned and shocked that someone could have abandoned a child like this.

"People want to know where he has come from and who is behind it. If there is an issue with human trafficking we need to find out how we can break the chain."

Mr Sharma also said he is doing work to raise publicity within the Punjabi community here and in India.

Talking about the claims of the Indian family he said: "I do not think we should ignore those claims, but there is a long process before we can establish them.

"People are looking at photographs and matching them and they are also looking for authority to do DNA tests."

Gurrinder, who is 5ft tall and has a distinctive mole on his left cheek, had been left to wander for a number of hours before being found by the staff at the Featherstone Medical Clinic.

Chris Mullally, a spokesman for Ealing Police, said: "We are aware of the claims being made in this matter at present, and information is being reviewed as part of the ongoing investigation."

Gurrinder is currently being looked after by a local foster family.

Anyone with information can contact Ealing Missing Persons Unit on 0208 246 1010, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.