DETECTIVES are appealing for witnesses after a man tried to grab a schoolgirl in Hampshire  yesterday.

Officers were called to Ophir Road in North End at around 8.20am after a man grabbed the back of a 13-year-old girl’s blazer and put his hand over her mouth.

She managed to escape and run away from the man but has been shaken by the incident.

The man is described as white, with tanned skin, aged in his late 30s to early 40s, around 6ft tall, of stocky build, with dark brown eyes and ‘chapped’ lips.

He was wearing a black Nike tracksuit with a white t-shirt, black gloves, a balaclava and white and black leather Adidas trainers.

A cordon remains in place on the road while detectives conduct house-to-house enquiries, and patrols have been stepped up in the area.

Detective Inspector Adam Price, said: “Although incidents like this are worrying, they are rare and we are working hard to identify the man responsible.

“This does appear to be an isolated incident and we have not received any other reports of this nature.

“We would like to hear from anyone who was in the Ophir Road area this morning, who may have witnessed this incident, and in particular we would like to hear from anyone who saw a man matching the description of the suspect hanging around the area.

“The girl did the right thing by running away and alerting a friend’s parent, who called police. I would like to ask parents to remind their children of the stranger danger message, to remain alert, not alarmed, and to report any incidents to us."

Anyone with any information is asked to call Eastern CID on 101 or anonymously via the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.