A STRANGER wearing a balaclava approached two young girls outside school gates in Glasgow and asked them to take his hand.

The St Bernard’s Primary pupils were outside the entrance on Seamill Street, Nitshill, when the alarming incident took place yesterday morning.

At around 8.55am, the pair, who were on their way to school, were stopped by the man, who was dressed in all black.

He is said to have asked them to take his hand, and when they said no, he told them he’d be back at 3pm – when school finishes.

The shocking incident was reported to a teacher and the police were called - who will be increasing their presence in the area. 

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Officers will also be attending the school to speak to pupils about "stranger danger". 

Police have launched an investigation and are carrying out CCTV checks and door-to-door enquiries.

Parents of the girls involved took to social media on Wednesday night to warn others about what happened.

A Facebook post has been shared more than 200 times.

Speaking to the Glasgow Times, one parent said: “If he’s standing outside school gates at 8.45am with a balaclava on, I assume that’s a planned event. And because he failed that morning, he could go to another school.

“I asked the police if this would have been an attempted kidnapping and they hummed and hawed a bit.

“The other question I asked was if they would be putting this information out because there are other schools in the area and they said it’s an ongoing investigation, but it might not go that far.”

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Parents of children at the school were issued a letter on Thursday afternoon by headteacher Elaine MacEachen.

It read: “Police Scotland have been contacted by the school alerting them to an incident that happened yesterday morning.

“Two of our pupils were approached on Pinmore Street by an unknown male, wearing dark clothing/hat.

“The police are taking the incident seriously and as a result will be in attendance at our school gates and there will be an increased presence within the local area.

“It is important that we all continue to be vigilant in the school community but remain calm while we let the police do their job.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances. We have also alerted all local schools.

“Our community police officers will be coming into school on Tuesday afternoon to speak to our children about ‘stranger danger’. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any further concerns.”

A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “We know that this incident will be alarming for families and can reassure them that the safety of their children is our primary focus here.

“The school will keep everyone updated with any information as we let the police do their job.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson added: “We received a report of a man approaching two children on Seamill Street in Glasgow around 8.55am on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”