POLICE hunting for a rapist with a North-East accent, who attacked two women in London, have widened their search to the region.

The Metropolitan Police's Serious Crime Group is approaching other forces across the country to see if the rapist has struck before.

The search for the man was stepped up as it was revealed that the rapist stole a mobile phone from one of his victims and used it to call her mother.

He is believed to have made the call an hour after the attack and gloated: "I've just raped your daughter" before hanging up.

The victim's sister then rang the mobile and was also taunted by the rapist about what he had done.

Police, who described the phone call as "evil", are now concerned the man will strike again and could kill his next victim.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the man's first victim, a 26-year-old woman, had her phone stolen and it had been used just after the attack.

The woman was grabbed from behind and pulled into the bushes as she walked on Putney Heath, Wimbledon Common on July 11. She was raped before the attacker stole her mobile phone and £10.

Police are linking the attack with a similar rape, a mile away on another part of the common, on August 6. In that incident a 52-year-old woman was attacked from behind as she was walking on her dog.

She was threatened with a knife and thrown to the ground before being assaulted. The man took the woman's yellow T-shirt from the scene.

The police spokesman said: "The Serious Crime Group has now taken over this investigation.

"We are positively linking the two incidents and are now widening our search to other parts of the country.

"We are talking to police forces across the UK to see if there are any other incidents that could be linked to these cases."

Both women described the man as about 5ft 7in tall, in his thirties and with a Geordie accent. He had a ruddy complexion and grey-ginger hair.