POLICE are investigating allegations that a 12-year-old girl was dragged from school grounds and seriously assaulted.

The girl was pounced on by a gang of boys while she waited to see a teacher at a city school during the lunch-hour to talk about being bullied.

It is claimed that the boys pulled her through a hedge, dragged her on to a footpath and threw her to the ground into a puddle where she hit her head and blacked out.

Her mother, from Worcester, said she was "horrified" when her daughter returned home at 3.40pm, wringing wet and covered in scratches.

"She told me what happened but said she couldn't remember anything else after she hit her head," said the mother, who called the police.

"She'd been missing from school all afternoon from 12.30pm but the school didn't contact me to let me know.

"You always think your child will be safe at school - I just couldn't believe what had happened to her."

She was later found to be suffering from concussion after hitting her head.

Although the 12-year-old originally reported to police she didn't recognise her attackers, she told her mother that on Monday she saw the same boys queuing up to go into a lesson at her school.

"She told me they threatened her and said if she spoke about what happened, they'd make sure she couldn't tell anyone again," said the mother.

"My daughter's having counselling and because she's been so traumatised, she's missed time off school.

"But instead of being sympathetic, her school's said if she misses any more lessons, we may have to consider moving her to another school.

"I've told them that if they try and move her I'll see them in court - it's

the boys that should be moved. She's the victim."

The Evening News put these allegations to the school's headteacher, who said: "Any allegation is treated extremely seriously.

"There's been an ongoing investigation that has discovered a number of facts.

"The school continues to work with the police in an attempt to resolve this."

Police confirmed they were treating the complaint as an assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Acting Superintendent Martin Lakeman said: "At the time of the interviews, she was unable to identify her attackers and we've been given no information to say that she has since seen her attackers.

"I would like to emphasise that if we were informed about the identities of her attackers we would follow that up. It would be very important to our investigation."