The mother of a 12-year-old who was mugged in broad daylight has spoken out in the hope that her daughter’s attacker will be found.

On Saturday morning the girl was walking along Great Eastern Path in Loughton when a man threatened to kill her and stole £20.

Now the girl’s mother who does not wish to be named, is hoping that people in the town may remember seeing the man, who was wearing a distinctive top.

At around 9.15am the girl was making her way home from seeing her mother at her workplace.

As she stopped in the alleyway, which runs parallel to a car park, because she had forgotten something, she was approached by the mugger.

“She turned around and he was coming up behind her,” Her mother said.

“He grabbed her hood and pulled her coat off. He said ‘give me your money or I’ll f****** kill you’.

“I’ve always told my kids it doesn’t matter what it is that someone wants, give it to them because it’s not worth your life.”

The man is believed to be aged between 18 and 20, around 5”11ins tall and was wearing a grey Superdry hooded jumper with yellow writing on the front.

He wore grey tracksuit bottoms and plain black trainers with black ‘thinsulate’ type gloves on.

During the young girl’s ordeal, the man searched through her coat pockets, tossing her phone to the floor and taking £20 from her purse.

He then threw all of her belongings on the floor and ran off towards Algers Road.

The girl’s mother said: “It’s so horrible. I’ve felt everything, guilt, anger.

“She doesn’t even look 12 she’s so tiny. Who would do that?”

The man is said to have had his jumper pulled around his face, making it hard to tell his ethnic origin.

Although the victim remembers him having a distinctive accent, saying he talked ‘like a gangster’.

Anyone with any information is urged to call police on 101.