Police are investigating a suspicious incident after a man followed a boy as he criss-crossed several streets on his way to school.

The mum of the boy has spoken out after her son was followed in Dover leaving him very badly shaken.

When the 13-year-old stopped outside the Londis shop in Cherry Tree Avenue to put his packed lunch into his school bag he noticed a man alongside him. As he crossed the road the man followed him so the teenager crossed the road and back again only to notice the man was still behind him.

The boy criss-crossed several roads in an attempt to shake the man off but each time he noticed he remained closely behind him.

It led the secondary school pupil to became very alarmed and he decided to head back to his home near Cherry Tree Avenue. He began almost running as he approached his house, with the man behind him picking up his pace.

The schoolboy managed to get back inside his house only to see the man standing opposite.

He made a desperate phone call to his mum who was at work in Folkestone.

"My son is mature for his age but he was in floods of tears and was incoherent so I couldn't understand what he was saying to me at first," his terrified mum, 42, said.

The man was picked up by a white van that pulled outside the house minutes later and when the boy's mum got home she said: "My son just collapsed into my arms in tears and I've never seen him like that before. It's really knocked him and he's badly shaken up by it.

"I've drummed into my kids from an early age to be vigilant and to stick to walking along main roads.

"My son is mature for his age but he was in floods of tears and was incoherent..." the boy's mum

"I just want other parents to be aware of what's happened so they can be extra careful."

A police spokesman said: "Officers are carrying out inquiries following a suspicious incident reported in Dover.

"A teenager believed he was followed by a man along Cherry Tree Avenue, Coombe Valley Road and Lorne Road on 10 December 2018 at around 8.30am.

"The boy got home safely but told police the man then stood outside his house for less than a minute before being picked up by the driver of a white van.

"Officers are looking into the report and reviewing local CCTV."