Women escape drive-by abduction

Two women have been assaulted by a group of men who tried to pull them into a car in Shropshire.

The women, in their 30s, were walking along Sydney Road, in Ludlow, at about 0345 GMT on Sunday when a car drew up just before a junction, police said.

One of the men asked the women for a cigarette. As she leant down to hear, he grabbed her. When the second woman tried to help she was grabbed too.

After a struggle the women pulled themselves free and the car drove off.

Liverpool accent

Det Insp Jason Wells said it was a "serious and frightening" incident, although neither woman was seriously injured.

He added: "It seems a determined attempt was made to pull them both inside the vehicle, although only the windows and not the car doors were opened."

The three men were in a small blue car which pulled up just before the junction of Rock Terrace in Sydney Road.

The sunroof may have been damaged in the struggle.

The men appeared to have a Liverpool accent, West Mercia Police said.