A teenager was threatened with a knife as a gang tried to steal his bag and ended up stopping traffic to ask for help.

The incident happened near Clare Park in Tonbridge Road, Maidstone.

The victim was approached by a large group of teenagers, who started asking him questions, including how much did his bag had cost him.

A knife was then pulled as the group tried to steal his bag.

The teenager then walked into the middle of the road and tried to stop vehicles to help him.

No drivers stopped and the boy managed to get away from the group and called the police.

It is alleged three of the group were directly involved in trying to steal from the victim. Two of them were black and around 16 years old.

One of them was around 5ft 7ins and wearing a black jacket and what appeared to be black school trousers.

The second was around 5ft 9ins and wore a black puffer jacket with the hood up. The jacket was designed to appear as if it has colourful specks of paint on it.

The third suspect was white and possibly 14 or 15 years old. He was described as being small and skinny, around 5ft 3ins and with short blond or fair hair.

He was wearing a black coat with dark grey or black tracksuit bottoms and a bag across his body.

The incident happened at around 3.30pm on October 11 and officers are urging residents and drivers to check any dashcams or CCTV for footage which may assist the investigation.

PC Chris Welham of Maidstone CID said police would particularly like to hear from the driver of a white transit van which briefly stopped when people were blocking the road.

Anyone with information is asked to call Kent Police on 01622 604100, quoting reference 46/201509/21. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111, or visit its website.

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