A girl (12) has fought off a suspected attacker by punching him in the face during an altercation in Manchester.

Police say the girl struck the man as he grabbed her arm as she walked home from school in Sale.

The girl was walking along Moss Lane at around 4pm on March 25th and had just passed Edinburgh Close when the incident occurred.

She was able to run away from the attacker and was not harmed.

Police have now issued an e-fit image of the suspect in an attempt to trace him.

Detective Constable Dan Hayes said: "This young girl has been very brave and worked with our forensic imaging specialists to relive what she went through and produce an accurate image of what he looked like."

"I would ask people to look carefully at this image and if you do recognise this man, or see him hanging around the area, please call us."

"We do not know what this man's intentions were and that is why we are taking this incident very seriously and doing all we can to apprehend this man."

"There may well have been a lot of people in the area at the time of the incident who have potentially vital information and I would ask anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or who recognise this man, to come forward."

The man is described as white, aged in his late 50s, 5ft 8in tall, of large build, with short, greying hair, a long face and a pointy nose.

He was wearing silver-framed rectangular glasses with an orange or brown tint to the lenses.

He was also dressed in a black jacket, a white polo T-shirt, loose fitting blue jeans and black shoes.