police are praising the actions of a 14-year-old girl who quickly raised the alarm after she was approached and grabbed by a man in Stroud.

At around 7.30pm on Tuesday, August 10, the girl was walking along the cycle path near to the Wallbridge Industrial Estate when she felt the presence of a man behind her.

He approached her and held the top of her arm but the girl was able to run away and quickly reported the incident to her parents who alerted police at 9pm.

The man was described as white, in his late 30s to mid 40s, of thin build and around 5ft 11" tall.

He was wearing a navy blue or black hooded top with three white stripes down the arms and black jogging bottoms.

Inspector for the area, Paula Hannaford, said: "We do not know the motives behind why this man approached the young lady but she did exactly the right thing by running from the area and telling a responsible adult about what had happened."

More information about the police’s ‘stranger danger’ campaign can be found on the Kids Aware section of the Gloucestershire Constabulary website at www.gloucestershire.police.uk/kids_aware Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact police on 0845 090 1234 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting incident number 451 of August 10.