Detectives are calling for a brave woman who helped a 13-year-old schoolgirl being attacked by a man in the street to come forward.

The young victim was walking to school when she was grabbed by a man and put in a headlock and assaulted.

A member of the public who saw the attack at 7.30am in London Road, Mitcham, stopped and pushed the man away, telling him to get off, a police spokesman said.

Officers want to speak to the woman who helped the victim, or anyone who knows her.

A 44 year-old man, Charles McLeish, of Beecholme Avenue, Mitcham, has been charged with sexual assault and appeared before magistrates on Saturday, June 13.

He has not entered a plea and will next appear before judges at Kingston Crown Court on September 10.

If you were this member of the public, or if you know who this woman is, contact Merton CID on 020 8649 3154, quoting reference 1406787/15.