A 61-YEAR-OLD woman was pushed into a hedge by a man who she thought was trying to steal her dog as she walked along a footpath in Wotton-under-Edge.

The woman was walking her 16-week-old Labrador puppy near Bearlands and Brown Pieces at about 3pm on Friday, 11 August.

A man came up behind her, pushed her to one side and said "give me the dog."

However, the woman held on to the dog, pulling it into the hedge with her, and the man ran off.

The woman suffered a scratch to her face from the hedge, the dog was not injured.

A police spokesman said: "Officers investigating the incident would like to hear from anyone who witnessed it or was in the area at the time and might have seen the offender running away.

"The only description they have of him is that he was wearing jeans and a hooded top."

Anyone with information is asked to call Gloucestershire Constabulary on 101 or email 101@gloucestershire.police.uk quoting incident 264 of Friday, August 11.