At a glance, it is clear these little girls aren't happy. One clutches at her favourite toy, anxiously peering around for her mother, while her younger sister miserably sucked at her thumb.
And yet hundreds of people ignored their plight and walked on by.
The girls stood for an hour on a Saturday morning in a busy shopping arcade looking for 'help', as part of a social experiment for television.
Hidden cameras recorded Uma, 7, and Maya, 5, who took it in turns to look lost (while their mother watching from nearby with a presenter).
Horrifyingly, over the entire hour the girls stood there, only one person, a grandmother, took a moment to find out if there was a problem. All of the 616 other passers-by completely ignored the girls.
The mother of the two girls later said: "I did not expect so few people to stop … it's shocking that people noticed a child on her own and they just walked past, whether it's through fear or because they didn't care or because they didn't notice.
"As a mother, to watch your child on their own, looking lost and needing help and watch people walk past is heartbreaking."
Experts said the reluctance of the passers-by was partly explained by people being busy, but was mostly down to a fear – especially among men – of any help they offer a child being misinterpreted.
But an NSPCC spokesman said that we need to overcome our fear of "stranger danger" and put the safety of children first:
"We have got to get a message out to adults that they have a responsibility to protect children and that must supersede any concern you have for other people's perception of why you are reaching out to help that child."
**Watch the clip for yourself below. **Little Girl Lost: A Police 5 Special will be shown on Channel 5 at 6.30pm tomorrow.