POLICE are hunting a driver who attempted to abduct a teenager as she walked to school.

The 14-year-old girl was walking along Dunston Road in the West Park area of Hartlepool on Monday morning when she was approached by a man in a white van.

He drove past her once and shouted "hey sexy" before turning his van back around and stopping.

He then asked the shocked student to get in his car and go for a ride, but she fled.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said the girl was too upset to tell anyone when she first arrived at school, but later told a teacher.

Officers are appealing to anyone who may have seen the van or the teenager as she walked to High Tunstall School with her younger sister at about 8.50am.

The spokeswoman said: "Children should be wary about any strangers approaching them."

The man was white, about 50, with grey hair and a grey moustache. He was wearing a white polo shirt and round sunglasses and may have been sunburned. His van was possibly a Ford or Peugeot.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sergeant Helen Eustace at Hartlepool police on (01642) 302126.

This is the latest report of men approaching children in white vans. The Northern Echo reported on June 11 how police were patrolling Darlington after six reports of child abduction attempts.