Abduction terror for Bay of Plenty papergirl

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The mother of an 11-year-old papergirl who was the target of an attempted abduction on Tuesday wants to warn girls to be careful when walking home.

The Bay of Plenty Times delivery worker, who the newspaper is not naming for privacy and safety reasons, was in the middle of her afternoon run in Te Puke when she was approached by a man about 3.45pm.

The girl's mother said the man pulled into a driveway beside her daughter and wound down his window.

"He said 'hop in, pop your papers in and I'll help you'," the mother said.

The daughter said "no" and biked on to her next house. The man backed out and followed her to the next stop, pulling into the driveway there. "At this stage she got really frightened so she took off ... we know people there ... So she made a beeline to a friend's house."

The friends were not home but the woman said her daughter would have appeared to have gone into the house.

The girl has only been a papergirl since December, taking up the job in the footsteps of her 16-year-old brother.

After checking to see if the man had left, the girl rode straight home.

"By the time she came home she was bawling. I thought she must have fallen off her bike and hurt herself or something," the mother said.

"She was really sobbing, she was beside herself. It took a while to calm her and work out what had happened. She said 'somebody tried to get me in their car but I managed to get away'."

The mother was disappointed that the incident would now haunt her daughter's memories on future paper runs - of which the next few will be done with her big brother in tow. "She's got to, because if she doesn't do the paper run anymore it's like saying that guy has won."

The mother said she wanted to warn girls to be careful when walking around "because things can happen so quick".

The girl said the man had upset her and she was "frightened" and "sad".

The mother praised the quick actions of the police, who began searching the area but failed to locate the man.

Bay of Plenty Times general manager David Mackenzie said the safety of all delivery personnel was of paramount importance to the company and it would be investigating the matter further.

DESCRIPTION

Male, Caucasian. In his 20s. Slim build. Blond shaved hair. Black baseball cap. Driving a green, single cab ute about 5-10 years old.

If you recognise the description of this man or witnessed the incident contact Te Puke police on (07) 573 9147 or call anonymously on 0800 SPEAK UP.