Villagers are in shock after a man allegedly attempted to lure a teenager into a car.

A 16-year-old boy from Southminster was left shaken after he claimed a stranger in a silver BMW approached him in a country road, asking him multiple times to get inside the car.

He said the driver pulled up beside him while he was walking alone in Steeple Road, Southminster, at 11.15am last Tuesday.

The driver then asked him for directions to St Lawrence and asked him to get inside the car, which the boy refused to do.

After repeating the request and receiving a blunt reply, the man then drove off.

The man was described as white, medium build, with short brown hair and facial stubble and aged in his 30s.

He also spoke with a local accent.

See this week's Standard - out today - for the full story.