A young girl fleeing a man in a white van who asked her to get inside cut her arm and lost her pocket money.
Police have today launched an appeal for a jogger who witnessed the 12-year-old girl running from the van in Hillside, Moulsecoomb, on Sunday to come forward.
The girl’s mother also posted an appeal on Facebook, saying the man, who was running up the hill, had shouted to check she was okay as she fled to her aunt’s house nearby.
She said police had found the girl’s pocket money and given it back to her.
The woman said: “My daughter age 12 was followed by a old white rusty van on Hillside were she was asked to get in the van.
“He then got out the van by the temporary traffic lights and she ran as fast as she could but fell over and cut all her arm.
“There was a man jogging up the hill who shouted over are you okay witch she got up and carried on running to her auntie‘s house the van then turned up on the road, I think The Crescent.
“If the man jogging was you please get in touch and thank you so much as I feel it was him that made the man drive away.
“She’s in shock, bless her. It’s one of those things you think will never happen, then when it does it’s shocking.
“She lost her pocket money and the police found it and brought it back to her witch was nice of them.”
The incident, which police have described as suspicious, happened between 9.11am and 9.57am on Sunday.
The van is white, believed to be an older model with no windows.
The man is described as white, bald, approximately 30-40 years old and with a southern accent. There was also a passenger travelling in the van, but they were not seen in detail.
Detective Inspector James Meanwell said: “I would like to reassure the community that we are investigating and working to establish the full circumstances of this incident.
“We’d like to speak to anyone who saw what happened, or who witnessed any suspicious behaviour in the area around that time. In particular, we’d like to speak to a man who asked the victim if she was okay.
“Our officers will continue to proactively patrol our communities and urge people to contact us if they have any issues or concerns.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police online or by calling 101 quoting serial 499 of 15/08.
