THIS is the face of a teenage attacker (right) who indecently assaulted a 77-year-old woman in an attack that has horrified a community.

The grandmother had been walking her dogs at 11pm on Bishop Auckland's Woodhouse Close estate when she became aware she was being followed.

As the teenager tracked her along three streets, she became frightened and, on Price Avenue, he grabbed her, pulled her on to the pavement and indecently assaulted her.

The youth then ran off leaving the woman with bruises and injuries to her face and in severe shock.

The attack has horrified people on the estate. A friend of the victim said: "She tried to hit him, but she's 77 and has a bad hand. Everyone here is outraged. I hope the police find him because, if they don't, we will."

The Reverend Vince Fenton, from Woodhouse Close Church, said: "It's shocking and our thoughts and prayers are with the lady. The main thing is, you don't want vigilante groups going round."

Police, who have taken DNA samples, want to speak to anyone who might have seen the woman between 10.30 and 11 on Saturday night on Price Avenue, Archer Avenue and Walker Drive, or who may have been followed by the youth previously.