Warning over 'bald middle-aged' street prowler in Wigan

Separate incidents, which have taken place across the borough, all reported a similar chain of events and pattern of behaviour of the prowler.

A bald, middle-aged man with a foreign accent is reported to a drive a silver car and slow down behind females and attempt to entice them into his vehicle.

An incident was also reported of a man of the same description walking up to a male in the street and threatening him with a knife.

The first reported encounter occurred on Friday February 2 in Bolton Road, Ashton, at around 5.50pm.

A female claimed a “bald and foreign” man driving a small silver car began shouting her over.

As she turned into Hilton Street, he pulled up and tried to grab her. She ran to safety at a nearby nursery.

Mere hours later and just over a mile away, a man fitting a similar description of bald and speaking with a foreign accent, pulled a weapon on a young man who was on his way home from a night out.

An 18-year-old male was walking along Wigan Road, Ashton, around 3am on Saturday February 3, when two men grabbed him. They threatened to stab him and walked him towards Marus Bridge, taunting him as they did so, before he managed to escape and call the police.

The third report of a man with the same appearance was reported in Wigan town centre. A woman was walking home from work on the evening of February 6, when she was approached in Frog Lane by a silver Vauxhall Astra, driven by a middle aged foreign man.

He tried to entice her into his car several times but scarpered when she threatened to call the police.

All three incidents have been reported to the police, but it is not yet known if they are being treated as linked.

Anyone with information on either incidents should call 101, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.