Man in car followed girl (14) and offered her a lift as she walked to a friend’s house in Sway

A SWAY mum has shared a warning after a driver followed her 14-year-old daughter as she walked to a friend’s house.

The man in a large black car approached her around 8.30pm last Wednesday, asking where she was going and offering a lift.

Calling his behaviour “bizarre”, the 34-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous, said the incident happened in daylight.

“It’s alarming and concerning. In a small village it’s not what you expect, but unfortunately these things do go on and it makes you feel you’re not safe,” she told the A&T.

The youngster first noticed the car parked on the opposite side of the road and, when she walked past it, it drove off and parked a short distance ahead.

When she reached it, the car drove slowly alongside her and, once she was near the village hall on Middle Road, he wound down the window and asked where she was going.

Having lied about her intended route, she declined his offer of a lift. He then drove off in the direction she said she was going and, after waiting until he was out of sight, she waked a different way.

“She rang me and said, ‘I’ve nearly been abducted’,” her mother said.

“I thought at first she’s being ridiculous, but as soon as she said he was driving slowly alongside her, I realised that’s obviously bizarre behaviour, definitely not normal, and I reported it to police.”

The man spoke with a foreign accent and was driving an SUV-type vehicle.

Following the incident, officers gave the youngster panic alarms in case she finds herself in a similar situation again.

Her mum said they would now always arrange a lift whenever going out in the evening.

“No actual crime has been committed, so it’s a shame that it’s got to be a case of a girl accepting a lift and something happening to her before it’s treated as such,” she continued.

“His intentions surely aren’t decent. You don’t behave that way if you’re just trying to help someone out – usually it’s because you’re a creep.”

A similar incident saw a man in a dark coloured Nissan Qashqai follow a 34-year-old woman walking home in the early hours of Sunday 25th May.

As reported by the A&T, he first offered her and two female friends a lift off Highfield in Lymington, which they declined.

He also offered wine, vapes and cigarettes, before again targeting the woman when she was alone on South Street and Wainsford Road in Pennington.

Police are currently not linking the two incidents.

The teenager’s mother – a lifelong villager – added: “As far as I’m aware, nothing like this has ever happened anywhere locally at all. So for two to happen in the space of a week is strange to say the least.”

Anyone with information should contact officers online via hampshire.police.uk or call 101, quoting reference 44250233382 for the 28th May incident or 44250227797 for the 25th May incident.

Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously via crimestoppers-uk or on 0800 555 111.