POLICE are hunting a man who grabbed and assaulted a 13-year-old girl in a park.

The teenager was attacked from behind as she walked through Westleigh Park in Leigh shortly before 9am on Sunday.

She fought back and managed to get away from her attacker, run home and alert police.

Detective chief inspector Clare Devlin, of Greater Manchester Police's Wigan borough division, said: "Thankfully this brave young girl was able to fight off the man and run away to safety.

"She has obviously been left frightened by this experience and my thoughts are with her and her family."

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

The man is described as tall, white, of medium build and around 30 years old with short dark hair and a scruffy beard.

He is also described as having muscly arms and a big nose.

The man spoke with a foreign accent, possibly Eastern European, and was wearing a green jacket, a top with the word king written on it and black Adidas tracksuit bottoms with stripes down the side.

DCI Devlin added: "We have launched an investigation and are very keen to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the incident or may have seen a man matching this description acting suspiciously in the area.

"Incidents like this are thankfully incredibly rare. The community is bound to be very concerned however, so I would like to reassure them that we are doing all that we can to identify this man.

"We have increased patrols in the area and anyone with any questions or concerns is encouraged to speak to our officers."

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 7103. Alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.