A TERRIFIED woman was held prisoner by a stranger who grabbed her as she walked along the riverside in York.

Police said the 20-year-old woman was held against her will "for a considerable time" after she was confronted by a man as she walked through the paved area between the Moat House Hotel and Lendal Bridge.

At one point a group of five people walked through the garden and she screamed and shouted for help. Two of the group looked round but did not intervene. The attack happened at about 10.15pm on Wednesday as the woman was walking home after visiting a pub.

The woman pleaded with the man to let her go, and eventually escaped after kicking him in the groin. The man was described as white, in his late 30s or early 40s, 6ft tall, medium build, with "scraggy" mousy brown hair and stubble.

He was wearing a calf-length black coat and Dr Marten's-style boots.

Police are keen to trace anyone who saw the woman with the man, particularly the group of people who walked past.

The woman was said to be 5ft 6ins tall, with collar-length wavy blond hair. She was wearing black trousers and a white short-sleeved shirt.

Updated: 16:48 Friday, July 06, 2001