A MAN ran at a teenage girl with a clenched fist and grabbed her round the waist in the street before she managed to break free.

The victim stood by Elsted Road, South Harting, near Midhurst, just before 7pm on Thursday when she saw a man dressed in black on the opposite side of the road by a driveway.

He ran at her with a clenched fist and chased her into Tippers Lane. He grabbed her around the waist but she managed to break free and was found by a couple who called her parents.

The attacker ran off and is described as white, around 5ft 8in or 5ft 9in tall, skinny, and clean shaven. He was wearing a black hooded jumper which hid most of his face, black tracksuit bottoms, boots and leather gloves.

Detective sergeant John Kalli said: "This must have been a very frightening experience for the victim. I would like to reassure the community that we are doing all we can to find the suspect and have stepped up patrols in the area.

"If anyone saw what happened we would ask them to call 101 quoting 0956 of 17/09."