A CHEPSTOW woman said her confidence has “gone to bits” after she was “grabbed” by a man while walking home from work.

Natasha Williams, 22, said she was walking home on Garden City Way in Chepstow after finishing work last Wednesday (January 4) at 4pm when she noticed a car was following her.

After the car seemed to follow her for a while, Miss Williams said a man got out of the car and approached her asking her if she would like a lift and telling her she was pretty.

“I was polite and said ‘no thank you I haven’t got far to walk’ and turned round to carry on but he grabbed my arm to turn me to face him,” said the beautician, who also works at Herbert Lewis department store in the high street.

“He wanted my attention more than anything I think, but it was pretty scary.”

The 22-year-old, who moved to Chepstow a year ago to live with her partner, has said the incident has now left her confidence shattered, and she is now nervous to walk home alone.

Miss Williams said: “I’m really nervous about walking home from work on my own, even when it is the middle of the day. I’m usually on the phone to my partner if I’m walking home after finishing work.

“Since it happened I am wary of everyone.”

After posting about what happened to her on Facebook, her post was shared more than 2,000 times.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be shared so much, it just shows that people in Chepstow are worried about things like that happening,” said Miss Williams.

The beautician has also set up a petition calling for more CCTV cameras to be installed in the town after finding out there are none on Garden City Way.

And since it was set up four days ago, the petition has already gained 400 supporters and will go before Monmouthshire County Council when it hits the 500 mark.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Miss Williams. “It’s been supported and shared so many times, you only have to look at the comments on there to see that so many people agree.”

After reporting the incident to the police, Miss Williams said she is grateful for the support from officers.

“It’s important to feel safe where you live,” she said.

“It’s great to have so much support. It’s lovely living here and it would be great for everyone to feel safer when walking around town.”

A spokeswoman for Gwent Police said a 29-year-old man from south Gloucestershire had been arrested in connection with this incident but after police interviews and enquiries, no further action has been taken against the man at this stage.

Anyone with information is asked to call Gwent Police on 101, quoting log 325 4/1/17.

A Monmouthshire council spokesman said a letter has been sent to Miss Williams. He said: “We have also explained that our CCTV scheme is a partnership between the county council, town councils and the police and any request to install further cameras would be a joint decision based on evidence and requirement.

“The council’s CCTV system operates at full capacity so we are currently unable to add more cameras but we could certainly consider Ms Williams’ request for increased provision when capacity is increased.”