A private girls college in Auckland is praising the actions of students from a nearby school, who intervened in a stranger danger incident.

A man tried to force a year six student from Diocesan School for Girls into his car yesterday afternoon - but was stopped by senior pupils from the school.

Diocesan Senior students intervened when they saw the man - described as Indian with spiky black hair - trying to force her into his metallic blue sedan outside the Epsom school grounds.

Diocesan has alerted police and is encouraging parents to pick their daughters up from inside the college grounds.

St Cuthbert's College Principal Lynda Reid says Diocesan quickly alerted her school, which then spread the message among parents to be vigilant.

"What we saw at Dio was those senior students just did a great job. We teach all of our staff and students that if they see anything that concerns them, they should get help straight away.”