A teenager has been left frightened to walk to school on his own after a man in a van hurled a tirade of homophobic abuse at him.

The 15-year-old was said to be walking along Westbrook Avenue, Margate, when a man shouted insults at him.

The boy ignored the shouts and carried on walking.

But the van then turned down Westonville Avenue, when one of the passengers again hurled abuse at the youngster.

It was then the van is alleged to have cut across his path and the suspect began to film him on a phone before he managed to get away.

It happened between 12.15pm and 12.30pm on Monday, January 2, and officers want to track down anyone who may have seen a black transit van.

The boy's mum said: "He was walking to a friend's [house] that day, and the van approached from behind with three adult males, they shouted abuse, drove round the block, waited and then followed behind again to hurl more abuse, they then pulled the van across the pavement and blocked his pathway and continued to shout abuse whilst filming him.

"This has left my son very shaken and upset and if anyone sees or knows anything I would please ask you to contact the police with any information. Thank you."

PC Samuel Lay said: "This incident has left the victim in fear and he is now worried about walking to school on his own.

"This kind of behaviour is simply unacceptable and I would ask anyone with information to come forward."

Officers want to hear from anyone who may have seen the footage.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 01843 222289 quoting reference ZY/000412/17.