Police are hunting an 80-year-old Stetson-wearing woman who grabbed two ten-year-olds in an underpass.
The elderly woman - who was carrying two Somerfield shopping bags - accosted the girls in the subway near Dorsten Square, Bewbush, Crawley.
She put the bags down, complaining they were too heavy, and said someone else should carry them for her.
Then she went up to the girls, grabbed them both tightly by the arm, shook them and tried to drag them away.
The woman only stopped when one of the girls' sisters appeared.
The girls ran off when she released them. They were uninjured but shaken.
Their attacker was about 5ft 9in tall, slim, with long grey hair in a ponytail down to the middle of her back.
She wore a knee-length black raincoat, black high-heeled boots and a black Stetson.
Anyone who can identify the woman in the incident, which happened at about 3.30pm on Thursday, should contact PC Steve Mitchell at Crawley police station on 0845 6070999.
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