A HORRIFIED mum told how she was left fearing for her daughter’s safety after a stranger called her over to his car.

A mum from Basildon, who has asked not to be named, was walking her four-year-old daughter home from Briscoe Primary School, in Felmores End, Pitsea, when the incident happened.

She said: “I went to pick up my daughter from the school with my sister. We were walking home and my daughter was only just about four foot behind me when I heard someone talking to her.

“The voice was saying ‘little girl, little girl, hey baby, baby.’

“I noticed there was a blue car had pulled up next to my daughter so I grabbed her and pulled her away from it.

“The man in the car drove off but he slowed down further up the road and stopped.

“He was shouting at her still, even while I was walking there with her.

“He kept saying ‘baby, come here’. I looked into the car and saw his face and he then drove off. I took a photo of the car to give to the police.”

The mum fears that the man could have grabbed her daughter, who she does not want to name, if she hadn’t been so close by.

She added: “If she was a couple more foot behind me he could have got out of his car. It would only take two seconds for a full-grown man to grab a child of her age.

“From now on I will not be walking on my own with my children and she will be holding on to the buggy all the way. It’s been really upsetting, she keeps asking me ‘who was that man, why was he talking to me?’”

The mum informed the police and the school of the incident, which happened at about 3.20pm on Thursday outside the school, which is part of the Harts Academy Trust.

A spokesman Harts Academy Trust confirmed they had been informed about the incident, but have not yet been contacted by police.

She added: “ We do regularly teach our pupils, parents and carers about keeping themselves safe in and out of school as well as online.”

A police spokesman said: “A woman reported a man in a blue car approached her daughter as they walked home from school. The driver spoke to the girl before the woman challenged him and he drove off.

“Anyone with any information should call Essex Police on 101 quoting incident 701 of 15/06 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”