Sex attacker strikes again

An e-fit of a man police believe could be responsible for both attacks

A bike-riding sex attacker who preyed on a woman in Weston-super-Mare, is thought to have struck again.

Two women have been seriously assaulted in the same area of the Somerset town in three days.

In the first attack, at 2240 BST on Monday, a 42-year-old woman was walking along a pathway to Grasmere Drive in the Bournville estate when she was approached by a man on a mountain bike. He attacked her, leaving her shaken and distressed.

Then at 1300 BST on Wednesday, a 22-year-old woman was accosted by a man on a bike in the same location. He grabbed at her top and punched her in the face before making off.

Both women gave similar descriptions of their attacker, and police investigating the two incidents fear the same man is responsible.

Witness appeal

A force spokesman said: "Officers would like to reassure residents on the estate that everything is being done in a bid to catch this man.

"The help of the public is needed to enable police to catch him as quickly as possible before he has a chance to strike again."

The women described their attacker as a white man aged about 20, six feet tall, with blond or bleached hair, cut short but with a longer fringe, and a pierced eyebrow.

The man involved in the first attack was wearing a white Adidas baseball cap, a white Adidas round-necked T-shirt, white jogging bottoms and white trainers. He was wearing a baseball cap during the second assault.

Anyone who saw a man acting suspiciously in the Grasmere Drive area at the time of either attack, or who recognises the description, is asked to contact Avon and Somerset Police.