A girl screamed and kicked a man who approached her in a suspicious incident in Dewsbury today.

The 12-year-old girl was on Russell Street at around 2.10pm when she was approached by a man in a black van.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: “The girl screamed and kicked him, causing the man to let her go. The man then drove off in the vehicle.”

The man is described as Asian and in his 30s. He was initially described as skinny but this was later changed to muscular.

He was wearing all black clothing, including a black hoodie and black jeans.

He was seen driving a black panel van away from the area.

Police said the man’s motives for approaching the girl were not clear.

Officers have attended the area in Dewsbury and enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances of the incident.

Det Insp Mark Walker, of Kirklees District CID, said: “While we understand that this incident may cause some concern in the wider community, we would stress that this appears to be an isolated incident and the motives behind this man’s actions are unclear.

“We would urge anyone who has witnessed this incident, saw this man in the area and saw anything suspicious which could help our ongoing enquiries to please call Kirklees CID via 101 quoting log number 878 of 21/2.”