Teenage girl grabbed near Accrington Asda (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Teenage girl grabbed near Accrington Asda

4:33pm Saturday 21st August 2010 in Accrington By Catherine Pye, Reporter

ATTACK: Hyndburn Road

A TEENAGE girl was grabbed from behind and threatened as she walked through Accrington in the early hours of this morning.

The girl, believed to be aged 17, was walking towards Church, in Hyndburn Road, near to Asda supermarket, when she was grabbed by a man at 12.45am this morning.

The man made threats towards her, but ran off in the direction of Blackburn Road, up Oxford Street, when a car drove past and disturbed him.

The girl, who police say was very shaken but unharmed, described the man as white, aged around 20, of a skinny build, with bushy dark hair and brown eyes. He was wearing black clothes.

The scene was cordoned off by detectives.

The officer leading the investigation, Detective Inspector Neil Ashton, appealed for witnesses.

He said: “The incident took place on a busy road and from CCTV footage we’ve recovered so far, there were many cars coming and going from the Asda store in spite of the late hour. “There were also a number of pedestrians in the area at the time.

“I am particularly interested in the motorist who may have disturbed the offender.

"If you saw anything suspicious, please call Accrington CID on 01254 353742, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”