A Wirral mum claims she was spat at and verbally abused while out walking with her three-year-old daughter.
Leanne, 30, from Wallasey, was walking in Egremont when a white van pulled over.
The mum was then ‘"surprised" when the driver of the van shouted "obscenities" about her weight, yelled insults and then spat at them.
Leanne told the ECHO : "We were just minding our own business, looking up at the moon and sky, when this white van stopped right next to us and yelled obscenities and then spat at us.
"I think they were just opportunists because I am a big girl, they just saw that and thought it would be a funny opportunity."
The 30-year-old said the driver verbally abused her and shouted while the two passengers laughed.
While she didn’t want to share the insults they said because of the "horrible" nature, she said they were nasty remarks about her weight.
The man also called her daughter an "ugly f****** crotch monster"’.
She added: "They were three fully grown men in a white work van. It took me by surprise. It literally felt like it was over in a second, it was just so weird and random that I just stood there and was like, ‘oh my god did that really just happen?"
Leanne said thankfully none of the spit landed on her and she managed to pull her daughter out of the way.
She said: "It was close , I thought it got me but when I checked when I got home it must have missed me.
"It just missed my daughter when I grabbed her by the hood to move quickly."
Leanne said she held it together in front of her daughter but broke down when she got home.
She added: "I waited till I got in because I don’t like to cry in front of her, so I got in and ran her a bath and put her in the bath, but I just sat outside the bathroom door and had a good winge.
"My daughter was thankfully unfazed, because she is still young, so she was waving hi and bye to them, and that really broke my heart the most."
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A Merseyside police spokesperson said: “We were contacted at 8.30pm on Monday 15th March following reports that a woman had been walking with her daughter at the junction of Greenwood Lane/Upper Rice Lane in Egremont when a van pulled up alongside her and the occupant verbally abused her and spat in her direction.
“Enquiries into the incident have been carried out.
“Anyone with information can DM @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 21000166065.”
