Natalie In Kidnap Attempt

14 March 2003

Natalie Imbruglia reportedly escaped being kidnapped from a busy London footpath last night soon after she left a chic restaurant. A man tried to bundle the Australian singer into the back of his black Range Rover as she left a charity event at Nobu restaurant in West London, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph reported today.

Minders were seen rushing to the aid of a panic-stricken Imbruglia, pulling the diminutive star away from the car. A photographer who witnessed the incident said the singer had been lifted from the footpath by the man who was pounced on and pulled away by the minders. He drove off and Imbruglia, who was unhurt, went on to Chinawhite nightclub in another part of central London, the newspaper said. A spokesman for the London photographer's picture agency said it was unclear if the man had just been in high spirits or it had been a genuine attempt to abduct the star.

However, a Scotland Yard spokesman said there was no report of the incident. The singer and her fiance, Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns, could not be contacted late tonight. Imbruglia's London agent Peter Nash said he had heard nothing about the incident.