A Mearns mum has told how her daughter was left terrified after being targeted by a scarred stranger as she walked home.
Michelle Smith’s daughter Chiara, 12, had to hide behind a wall before eventually running home.
Police officers were conducting door to door inquiries in Gourdon after the incident at Brae Road around 4.40pm on Wednesday.
Chiara had been up to Bervie with a friend and was walking home when she got a stitch and stopped to get her breath back.
The man stopped in his car and asked if she was OK and needed a lift but she declined and the vehicle drove off before stopping opposite the junction of Brae View.
Michelle said: “He wouldn’t take no for an answer and kept asking her to get in the car.
“He asked where she lived but she didn’t tell him and by this stage she was scared.”
Chiara took off up a side street to get away and hid behind a wall.
At this stage the man got out of the vehicle and went looking for her before returning to his vehicle and driving further into Gourdon.
Michelle said Chiara was sure he was waiting for her so she put up her hood and ran home as fast as she could.
“When she came in she was in such a state,” said Michelle. “I’m just in shock that this has happened.
“I’ve been here for 20 years and it’s usually such a quiet place.
“But maybe we’ve got complacent.”
She said her daughter was sensible enough not to get in the man’s car.
But she is worried that the stranger might try it again with another child that will not be so lucky.
She said the man was bald, stocky build with a scar on his cheek and a tattoo on his neck.
PC Austin Stevenson said: “At this time there is nothing to suggest that anything untoward has happened here, however we would like to trace the man who was driving the car so we can rule that out.
“If you were in the area at the time and saw anything suspicious or unusual we would ask that you contact us on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if you wish to remain anonymous.”
The vehicle is described as similar to a silver Vauxhall Corsa.
Last month pupils at a rural Angus school were given advice on “stranger danger” after a man approached a little girl in the street.
In January an alleged approach was made by a man to a Carnoustie pupil outside Burnside Primary School and there was a similar incident in Alyth just a week before.