Witness appeal as girls pushed into canal by group of teenage boys

The girls, aged 12 and 14, were walking along the canal path behind McDonald's on Weavers Wharf when the the unprovoked assault took place.

They were approached by a group of six teenage boys who pushed them both into the canal. It is believed the offenders ran off in the direction of Frankie and Benny's and Tesco as the girls were helped out of the water by a passer-by.

They were taken to hospital immediately after the incident and have now returned home. They were not injured, but have been left shaken by the ordeal.

The incident happened at around 2.30pm on Saturday.

So far nobody has been arrested but police say they are following "a number" of lines of enquiry.

Superintendent Mark Colquhoun, from West Mercia Police, said: "This was clearly a frightening experience for these young girls who were walking in Kidderminster on a busy Saturday afternoon. They did not know the boys who assaulted them or why they were pushed.

“When the girls entered the canal they went under the water so this must have been very distressing for them. I would appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time, perhaps Christmas shopping, to think back and try to remember if they saw anything which may be related to this incident.

“We are currently following a number of lines of enquiry and reviewing CCTV footage from the local area to identify those involved but if there are any witnesses or if anyone has any information I would ask them to get in touch. I would also like to thank the members of the public who stopped and helped the girls to get out of the water.

“Incidents of this nature are thankfully rare but we will be increasing our patrols in the local area to provide reassurance to the community.”

The group of boys are described as around 15 to 16 years old and were all wearing tracksuits at the time – one of which was grey in colour and another was a shiny material.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We were called at 3:26pm on Saturday to an address in Offmore Road, Kidderminster. We sent one ambulance to the scene.

"On arrival, the crew treated two girls who had reported to have been pushed in the canal earlier. Both were conveyed to hospital for further treatment.”

Anyone with information is urged to call West Mercia Police on 101, quoting incident number 407 of December 19. Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.