A TEENAGE girl fought off an attacker after she was assaulted in a park.

Police are appealing for witnesses to help locate the man, who grabbed the 13-year-old at Westleigh Parkin Leigh.

Shortly before 9am on Sunday, the girl was walking through the park when she was grabbed by a man who approached her from behind.

The girl fought back and managed to get away from the attacker, run home, and alert police.

The man is described as tall, white, of medium build and around 30 years-old, with short dark hair and a scruffy beard.

He is also described as having muscular arms and a big nose.

He spoke with a foreign accent, possibly Eastern European and was wearing a green jacket, a top with “King” written on it, and black Adidas tracksuit bottoms with stripes down the side.

Detective Chief Inspector Clare Devlin, from GMP’s Wigan Borough, said: “Thankfully this brave young girl was able to fight off the man and run away to safety.

“She has obviously been left frightened by this experience and my thoughts are with her and her family.

“We have launched an investigation and are very keen to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the incident or may have seen a man matching this description acting suspiciously in the area.

“Incidents like this are thankfully incredibly rare, the local community are bound to be very concerned however, so I would like to reassure them that we are doing all that we can to identify this man. We have increased patrols in the area and anyone with any questions or concerns is encouraged to come and speak to our officers.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 0161 856 7103 or 101.

You can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.