A BRIDGWATER woman has spoken of her gratitude to the police after they came to her rescue when a stranger followed her home and started hammering on her door.

Faith O’Reilly, 71, was walking her Scottie dog on the evening of Wednesday, August 12 at about 8.30pm when she was approached from behind by a man.

Making her jump, he whispered in her ear that she had a “lovely dog”, before making a big fuss over her pet.

“I let him walk ahead of me but I didn’t see where he went,” said Faith.

“When I got to my front door I called out that I was home, even though I live by myself, because I was scared.

“At about five past nine there was a ring at the doorbell but I didn’t answer it as it was dark.

“Then there was a second ring followed by a loud thumping at the door.”

Faith went to the window to see who it was in case somebody was in trouble.

“She was startled when she saw it was the man who had spoken to her about her dog.

He was holding up what looked like a gold coin, and said she had dropped it on the path.

“I hadn’t dropped it and told him to go away.

“At this point I was feeling very scared because I was vulnerable on my own so I phoned the 101 police number.

“I spoke to two people on the phone who were lovely and calmed me down. Then there was another knock at the door and I was too scared to answer even though it was a policeman with a car and in uniform.

“He spoke to me through the window and made me feel so much better.

“It was nothing dramatic and they will probably say they were just doing their job but for me, they were heroes.

“I want to thank them for being so lovely – they know who they are.”

The police told Faith that the man may have been targetting her dog as Scottie dogs are quite rare.

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We love to hear tales of good Samaritans and local heroes – email reporter Rebecca Heyes at rebecca.heyes@nqsw.co.uk.