POLICE have released an e-fit of a man they want to question in relation to the attempted abduction of a teenage girl.

The Northern Echo reported last month how the middle-aged man tried to grab the girl after asking for directions.

The 16-year-old victim was walking along Middlesbrough Road, in Thornaby, Teesside, at about 6.25pm on Thursday, May 18, when a car pulled up beside her.

She was walking past Total Fitness leisure centre, near the A66 sliproad at Thornaby, when the green people carrier stopped beside her. The driver asked the teenager if she knew the way to Linthorpe, but she told him she did not know Middlesbrough very well and started to continue her journey.

The man then got out of the car and tried to drag the girl into the vehicle.

At the same time, a cyclist on a yellow push bike, who was riding past the scene, managed to grab her other arm and pull her free. The car then drove off.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said the girl noticed the driver was aged between 55 and 60, had scruffy hair and stubble and was wearing a red Middlesbrough football shirt and jeans.

She also noticed that a white man, with brown hair, aged in his 20s and with Down syndrome, was sitting in the passenger seat.

The cyclist was aged about 19 and was wearing a grey hooded top.

The victim told police she thought the green people carrier had a disabled badge in the window.

She said she had seen it moments earlier outside the Bon Lea Trading Estate, close to Total Fitness, parked next to a silver Corsa car.

She said the driver of the Corsa appeared to be arguing with the driver of the people carrier.

Officers are also trying to trace a young girl who was walking ahead of the victim at the time of the attempted abduction, who may have witnessed the incident.

She was wearing a pink and brown quilted jacket, with diamond stitching, jeans and had long hair.

Anyone with information, or people who witnessed the incident, are asked to call PC Marie Littlewood on (01642) 302226.