A woman has told how she felt trapped and terrified after being pursued by three men in Balloch Park.
Siannon Halliday was walking her dog in the park around 9.20am on Thursday morning when two men approached her.
As she walked past, they were continuing to stare at her when another man appeared from behind a tree and began walking towards her.
The 26-year-old student told the Lennox Herald she will be avoiding the area from now on after the chilling incident which is being probed by police.
She said: “As I approached the building where the public toilets are I saw two men standing facing towards the water.
“As I was approaching to walk by, the men were staring at me and my dog where one then said ‘morning’ I said ‘hi’ and walked by.
“When I walked by I turned around and they were still staring at me where one of them then said something loudly in their language which I found strange.
“As I turned around to walk on, a man comes out from behind a tree from up in front of me and starts to walk towards me. I quickly turned back around to the two men behind me where they had now started to walk behind me and asked ‘is everything ok?’
“The man who had said morning to me said ‘yes’ with a smile on his face’.”
Siannon was starting to feel uneasy despite being out in the open and in broad daylight and was looking for a means to escape.
She went on: “At this point, I felt trapped and terrified so I started to run up the way towards the castle and pulled my phone out and called my husband.
“They followed behind me until they had seen I had stopped at the top and stood with two women who were walking their dogs.”
But she said the incident didn’t end there as the men sat on a bench nearby and waited.
Siannon went on: “I stood with these women for around five minutes then continued my journey home along to the top path from the castle to the gates at the exit to the park.”
The student from Balloch said she was baffled at what the men, who she said had foreign accents, wanted from her.
She explained: “I had no idea what their intentions where whether it was me, my dog or both of us. I was on edge at first with the two men but when they alerted the third to come out, I was absolutely terrified.”
Siannon described one of the men as being dressed in black including a black hat with brown ankle boots.
Another had a bright blue jacket, hat and trainers with grey joggies.
And the third had a khaki green tight fit hoodie, dark joggies and bright blue gloves.
Chief Inspector Coleen Wylie confirmed police are investigating the incident.
She said: “On the morning of Thursday, November 4, police received a report that a woman had been followed by three men in the vicinity of Balloch Pier. Officers attended and carried out a search of the area but found no trace of the group. Should any members of the public be concerned regarding any suspicious activity or have any further information, please contact Police Scotland on 101, or dial 999 in an emergency.”
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