A seven-year-old French schoolgirl has been pulled from the clutches of a kidnapper by her classmates who kicked and punched the intruder until he fled, police say.

An unknown man accosted the child last Friday after slipping into the school playground in Plaisir west of Paris, offering the girl sweets to follow him.

When she refused, he tried to drag her into his car, but an eight-year-old classmate ran up and started kicking and punching the assailant, and tried to trip him up, local police inspector Heloise Gresy said on Thursday.

"There was lots of shouting, and a dozen other kids from the class came over and sent him fleeing," she said.

Police, who have issued a search warrant, described the man as white with grey hair, a small beard and a white hat, driving a dark convertible car.

AFP