A BONHILL student has urged other women to be cautious while out walking alone.

Siannon Halliday told the Reporter she was left “absolutely terrified” after allegedly being stalked by three men in broad daylight last week.

The 26-year-old said she had been approached while walking her dog in Balloch Park on Thursday morning.

She explained how two men had said “good morning” to which she replied.

But Siannon, a childhood studies student, said the men continued to stare at her before a third man jumped out from behind a tree which made her feel “trapped and terrified”.

She said: “I quickly turned back around to the two who had now started to walk behind me and asked ‘is everything OK?’

“The man who had said ‘morning’ to me said ‘yes’ with a smile on his face.

“At this point I started to pull my phone out to call my husband.

“They followed behind me until they saw I had stopped at the top and stood with two other women.”

Siannon claims she is too frightened to walk the same route through the park again and warned other women to be cautious.

She said she told police what had happened and that officers made her feel like it was a “serious matter”.

Officers visited Siannon the following day for more details and carried out a search of the park.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “A woman raised concerns over three men she has seen in Balloch Park on Thursday, November 4.

“Officers carried out enquiries, however, there is nothing to suggest any criminality at this time.”

Local women’s rights activist Lynda McEwan said these sorts of incidents have “increased exponentially”.

Ms McEwan, who organised a “Reclaim the Night” march in Alexandria to campaign for women’s safety in 2018 and a vigil in Dumbarton in memory of murdered woman Sarah Everard in March, said: “I’m appalled but not shocked that a woman can’t walk her dog in a local park in broad daylight without being confronted and terrified by a group of men deliberately attempting to intimidate her and possibly more.”

She claimed much more needs to be done to tackle “inequality and sexist attitudes” in local communities and offered her solidarity to the women involved.

Anyone with concerns when out walking alone is urged to call 999.