A teenage girl has been applauded for thinking on her feet after stopping a young girl from being taken away by a stranger.
Emma Carlile, 15, saw a man approaching a pre-teen schoolgirl and telling her he was her "dad's mate".
According to Emma's dad Rik, she was walking home from Weatherhead High School in Merseyside on Tuesday when the incident took place.
Rik told the Liverpool ECHO : "She said she was walking along and she saw a 'creepy looking man' approach a young girl and put his arm around her, which she thought looked odd.
"She noticed when the man approached her she looked a bit startled and then she heard the man say, 'I'm your dad's friend, don't you remember me? I've been to your house before'."
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Emma said to her dad that the schoolgirl was young, around 11-years-old.
The girl was wearing a coat so Emma was unable to see which school she went to but she was could see that she had on a Harry Potter rucksack.
Rik said: "The girl was saying 'no, I don't remember' but he kept going on saying, 'I'm your dad's friend, I've met you before.'
"Emma said you could tell that the girl just looked like she had no recollection of him whatsoever which is why she kept an eye on them.
"At one point the girl tried to get her phone out and the man said, 'no you don't need to ring anyone, you know who I am, I'm your dad's mate.'
"She followed them around the corner and when they got by the crossing she thought she would just say something.
"She shouted the first name that came into her head, she said - 'Hey Bethany! Dad will be home tonight from police training'.
"Apparently the girl looked at her and just opened her eyes wide as if to say thank you. She said she looked startled."
Emma told her dad as soon as she started shouting over to the girl the man walked quickly away down towards Wallasey Village train station.
Rik said the girl thanked his daughter and when they got over the road she said to make sure she got home safe and tell her parents what happened.
Emma described the man as around 6ft tall with short grey hair and stubble. He was of large build wearing a green t-shirt and black trousers.
