A WITNEY woman has shared the story of a man who escorted her through a dark area of the town after he thought she could be in danger.

The woman said she was on the phone to her friend at around 10.30pm on Tuesday night, walking over the bridges connecting Witney town centre to Cogges, when a man came running up behind her.

Posting on the Spotted Witney Facebook page, the woman said: "There was this young man in his early twenties sat on the bench who I walked past on my way home towards Cogges field/ Oxlease park.

"He came and ran after me then started to walk beside me then said to me to 'carry on walking' then he told me 'two men further behind us has just said look at her, let’s wait until that man's gone'.

"The man said to me to trust him and he’s also going to carry on walking with me so I’m safe."

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She added: "He kept checking his surroundings which made me wonder if these two men were even there as I was unaware of these men being in sight.

"Luckily I was fine we parted ways down the alleys towards Tesco. In addition if it wasn’t for the man I could of been in serious danger, or if the men were non-existent and the man who attended me was planning on pursuing something I could of also be in serious danger."

She warned others to be aware of their safety in Witney at night.

Oxford Mail:

The path leading to the bridge. Picture: Google Maps.

Replying to the post, Connor Hayes said he was the young man on the bench, and shared his side of the story.

He said: "I normally stay quiet on this page, but the person in question that walked this lady towards home was me.

"I was sat eating my late tea on the bench as she walked past, upon finishing it I started to walk home and heard the quotes that the poster had said 'wait till he's gone etc'.

"I shone my torch towards the voices and the moved away further into the field so I couldn't see them more. All I wanted to do was to make sure nothing bad happened to this lady."

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He added: "It was more instinct then anything especially after the assaults and rapes that have happened down there. I'm glad she got home okay."

Some commenters on the post commended Connor for his actions, describing them as heroic.

One person recommended he and the original poster should both report what happened to the police.

Others were quick to warn of the dangers of walking through dark areas late at night.

Connor is currently taking part in Stoptober, a campaign run by the NHS to encourage people to give up smoking for 28 days.

He is raising money for Age UK, to help support older people who struggle with loneliness.

His Stoptober fundraising campaign can be found at justgiving.com/fundraising/connor-hayes5