A MAN attempted to force a 17-year-old girl into a car with four other men, as she was walking along the street in Grays.

The incident happened at about 5.30pm on Monday, in Grantham Way, as she returned home from college.

She was walking by nearby houses, when one of four men in a parked navy blue Mazda, flung open the door to hit her and tried grabbing and coaxing her into the car.

The girl, whose family wishes to remain anonymous, said: “I didn’t know what was going on, it was awful and I was scared.

“I didn’t know why he wanted me to go in the car with them.

“I’m a blue belt in karate, I used my blocks to stop him from grabbing me.

“It went on for ages, and when he realised I wasn’t going to go with him, he walked back to the car and shouted he ‘will see me again’.”

She explained how she removed her coat, so not to be recognised, then crawled on her hands and knees through back gardens to her home, to remain undetected.

Speaking after the ordeal, her mother added: “It has left us extremely shaken.

“Last night we had to leave the landing light switched on and our doors were wide open, so we knew each other wasn’t far away.”

Essex Police have confirmed they are making enquiries into the incident.