A man driving a van attempted to drag a young girl into his vehicle in Black Notley.

Police were called to Mary Ruck Way at around 6.15pm on Tuesday, where a van had pulled alongside two girls, both aged over ten, and asked them to get inside.

The girls reported the man attempted to drag one of them into the vehicle before they managed to run away and raise the alarm.

Officers arrived a short time later to check on the safety of the girls, and conducted a search of the village but were unable to find the van described.

The van was red and the victims suggested it had an unofficial Royal Mail logo on the side.

The man was described as being in his 30s to 40s, wore a black hooded jacket with the hood up and a baseball cap under his hood along with dark glasses.

He is believed to have a distinctive tattoo of a skull and crossbones with a red slash across it on his right hand.

Detective Inspector Rob Kirby of Braintree CID said: “These incidents are rare, and we understand that this can raise concern in the community.

“The girls did exactly the right thing by running to a place of safety and letting someone know what had happened to them.

“We are investigating to establish the circumstances of this incident, and are carrying out a number of enquiries to try and trace any vehicles that may have been involved.

“We want to reassure everyone that we always take reports like this very seriously.

"We would urge any witnesses, or anyone with dash cam or CCTV footage to call 101 and speak to us."

"Our reference number for this incident is 935 of 24/04.

"Alternatively, you can contact the Crimestoppers charity 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111 or use the anonymous online form at Crimestoppers-uk.org.”

A facebook post shared by one of the victim's mums has been shared more than 1,300 times.