DETECTIVES are appealing for information about a sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl.

The teenager, from Billingham, near Stockton, was attacked in Middlesbrough town centre by a man claiming to be a taxi driver.

He shouted obscene comments and made rude gestures to her as she stood at a bus stop outside the Hairy Lemon pub, in Corporation Road, with a 15-year-old male friend.

The girl shouted back at him to leave her alone and called him a pervert.

He crossed the road towards the teenagers and as he did so the 15-year-old boy walked away, abandoning the girl.

The man told the girl he knew her mother and told her to apologise. As she began to apologise he admitted he did not know her mother and pinned her against the bus stop.

He asked her for sex in the back of his taxi, saying he would pay for it. The girl shouted for him to get off but the man then tried to put his hand up her skirt.

She pushed him away and ran towards the bus station, where she alerted security guards who raised the alarm.

PC Karen McManus, from Middlesbrough police, said: "The young girl is still in a real state of shock and she doesn't even want to leave her home anymore."

The assault happened on Friday, July 30, between 7.30pm and 8pm. Police have only just informed the media.

The man was muscular, aged about 36 and was about 5ft 10in. He wore a checked shirt with rolled-up sleeves, blue jeans and black shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC McManus, on (01642) 303126.