Police want to quiz a man about an indecent assault on an 11-year-old girl who was queuing up to buy an ice cream.

Child protection team detectives have questioned the girl and her 12-year-old friend about the attack on September 14.

The girl's attacker tried to touch her while she was queuing at Morrocos ice cream parlour on Hove seafront at about 6pm that day.

He is thought to have watched the girls as they then played on the beach, before chasing them into a nearby block of flats.

He got into a lift with them and started touching the 11-year-old girl.

She managed to escape from the lift and called for help, but the man escaped before anyone could catch him.

The Argus revealed after the incident that the girl's parents were angry that police did not come to see her until the following morning.

Officers blamed a combination of lack of resources and a misunderstanding over what time they could turn up.

However, the girl's mother remains unhappy with the girl's treatment and said she had remained traumatised.

The man is described as white, aged between 42 and 50 and about 6ft.

He had greying black or brown hair which was either short or tied back in a ponytail, and a greying black or brown beard.

He was wearing a navy blue or black baseball cap and black leathers.

Detective Constable Renate Harris, from Brighton and Hove's child protection team, said today: "The girl was very distressed. If you recognise the description of this man you must call the police or Crimestoppers anonymously."