Man hunted after Hull schoolgirl kidnapping bid on cycle track

Police are hunting a man who attempted to kidnap a schoolgirl in an early morning attack, just days after two other girls were left shaken by a similar incident.

A 13-year-old girl was snatched on Friday after a man, believed to be in his early 20s, jumped out of bushes near the Springhead Park Golf Club on Willerby Road in Hull and tried to carry her off, Humberside Police said.

The girl had been walking alone down a cycle track when the man stopped her between 8.30am and 8.45am.

A police spokesman said: "He attempted to ask the girl a number of questions, which she ignored. The man then allegedly grabbed hold of the girl, and started walking off, carrying her over his shoulder.

"The girl screamed, and at the same time a dog walker then came on to the cycle track, at which point the man dropped the girl and made off from the scene on a black mountain bike."

Less than half a mile away, a man on a mountain bike approached two 13-year-old girls as they walked near a field along Hull Road in the Anlaby area of the city at 7.30am on Wednesday.

He became aggressive and verbally abusive when they ignored him, before they left. The man did not follow them.

Police believe the two incidents could be linked and are appealing for witnesses, especially the dog walker, to come forward.

Detective Inspector Paul Welton said: "The man the three girls have described appears to be very similar; a white man in his early 20s with a very strong Hull accent and travelling on a gent's mountain bike.

"In Friday's incident the man was described as being between 5ft 6in and 6ft tall, of a slim build and with stubble on his chin. He wore a grey coloured hooded Nike top, which he wore with the hood up, and either had very dark hair or possibly wore a hat under the hood.

"The area Friday's incident occurred on is a cycle track with open farmland on one side and a golf course on the other. It is very secluded, but is a regular area for dog walkers.

"In both incidents, the girls were young, they look their age and wore school uniform."

He asked anyone who may know the man to come forward and urged parents and children to make others aware of the incidents.