A WOMAN who was subjected to a terrifying sex attack spoke of her ordeal for the first time last night.

And police revealed the assault in Darlington could be the work of a serial sex pest.

The shop worker was grabbed from behind, dragged into the dark corner of a car park and indecently assaulted last week.

Days later, her attacker struck again, dragging a 16-year-old girl into a park and subjecting her to a terrifying assault before running off.

Last night, detectives at Darlington police station revealed there could be a link between the latest attacks and three other assaults on women in the town.

Detective Constable Danny Townsend, of Darlington CID, said: "We believe they may be linked. It is certainly a line of inquiry that we are looking into.

"In the recent attacks both victims were left very distressed. The 16-year-old is very upset.

"The second attack was a bit nastier than the first one. We believe other women could have been approached by the man and might not have come forward, for whatever reason.

"Anyone who has had a similar incident, however trivial they believe it may be, should get in touch with us."

One of the victims agreed to speak exclusively to The Northern Echo after hearing her attacker had struck again.

The woman, in her twenties and from Barnard Castle, had been walking along East Street, near JJB Sports shop in Darlington, when she was dragged into the car park and assaulted.

"There was a lad in the street and he stopped to ask me the time, and I told him," she said.

"I didn't suspect anything. He looked normal, he didn't look like he was drunk or on drugs. I didn't take much notice. There wasn't anyone else around.

"Just as I was walking into the car park, he came behind me and grabbed my arms and dragged me into a corner. I was very scared.

"He then assaulted me but I screamed and he let go. He then ran around the outside of the railings. He stopped and looked back at me and walked off down the road. He didn't even run.

"I am very distressed by what has happened. I am now too scared to be out on my own. I usually get a bus home from work in Darlington but now I get my parents to come and pick me up."

The latest assault happened on Sunday in a park area off Haughton Road at 10.05pm. The 16-year-old victim had been to visit her boyfriend but she missed the bus home and decided to walk.

Her attacker followed her from Priestgate, near the Kings Head Hotel, and on to Haughton Road before grabbing her and indecently assaulting her. She has been left extremely distressed.

Police revealed last night that there had been three other less serious assaults on women in Haughton Road this year, and believe there could be a link.

A woman was assaulted on the road in February and again in September by, it is believed, the same man. She reported the attacks to the police after her friend told her she had also been assaulted by a man in Haughton Road.

Det Con Townsend said a woman was indecently assaulted in September in Newton Lane. Her attacker fitted a similar description to the others.