Schoolgirl assaulted in underpass

A 16-year-old girl was indecently assaulted by a man wheeling a bicycle as she walked home from school through an underpass in Wearside.

It happened at about 1700 GMT on Thursday as she walked along Silksworth Way, High Barnes, in Sunderland.

She became aware of a man wheeling a bicycle behind her as she entered an underpass in Essen Way.

He indecently assaulted her as she left the tunnel. He then left on the bike along Crosslea Avenue.

The victim was uninjured but left shaken, police said.

The offender is described as about 5ft 7ins tall, of medium build and was wearing a grey hooded top with the hood pulled up tight around his face.