A borough mum has shared her terrifying experience in a warning to other women after she was followed by man while walking her dog. 

Lauren Jackson started walking with her dog along the Rochdale Canal from near Morrisons in Chadderton at around 12pm on Tuesday.

She had been to the canal over the weekend and thought her daughter's lost glasses might have been there.

Lauren says she noticed a man get onto the path behind her and took note of his presence. 

She described the man as white and in his mid 20s, wearing a black coat with the hood up and a blue cap.

He then began following her for a prolonged period of time.

The mum-of-two said: "I kept checking over my shoulder, as any woman would as that's just what we have to do nowadays, and I just thought 'Oh, it's just someone else walking'.

"He started on and off jogging and so I assumed he was just a jogger, but when I next checked he had just started walking again, with a small bit of distance between us.

"Then nothing else happened until I got to Failsworth Lock and I couldn't see him behind me anymore.

"I turned round thinking 'oh I can't find the glasses so I'll go back'."

Lauren explained she would never usually walk along the canal on her own, as she does not feel safe there, but that she wanted to find the glasses. 

She added: "On my way back I spotted him, and as he saw me going back the other way, he turned around as well, which I thought was really weird.

"There was a bridge there, near Parkfield Road North, and as I was going under it I could not see him anymore and I thought 'well he's either waiting on this bridge or he's come off here and gone through the housing estate'.

"As I went under I was looking around and I looked to my right and he was in the corner at the top of the bridge tucked into the bushes, but because I was wary and looking for him I spotted him."

Lauren said that she then was sure he was following her and she began trying to wonder what she could do to get out of the situation when she saw a man in his garden across the canal.

She struck up a conversation with him and pretended to ask for directions while the man who had been following her waited at the bridge.

She said she told the man in his garden that she believed she was being followed and he said there had been a similar situation along the canal "a few months ago".

After waiting and talking to the man for a few more minutes, Lauren says the suspicious man walked away.

She says she ran part of the way home because she was "really scared".

Lauren said: "I'm just so thankful that man was in his garden because I really don't know what could have happened.

"I know he was following me, and it has shaken me up and I just want to warn people because I know children walk through there after school and vulnerable people."

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has been approached for information.

If you have any information contact GMP on 101 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.