A paedophile who snatched a six-year-old girl from her bath repeatedly sexually abused her while he drove her around in his car, a senior detective said today.

The ''brave'' victim has given specially-trained officers more in-depth interviews since her ordeal a couple of days after Christmas, and given them further details about her attacker.

He grabbed her from her home in North Tyneside while her mother was distracted, sexually abused her in his car, then dumped her naked and shivering in a snowy back lane.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Napier said in a statement today: ''From the outset of this investigation we had medical and other evidence to support the little girl's account of what happened.

''This has been strengthened by further interviews where she has been very brave in trying to help officers build up a more complete picture of what happened that night.

''We are able to say that, after being taken from the bathroom of her home, she was driven around in a car and repeatedly sexually abused by a man who then abandoned her in the back lane where she was found.

''This reinforces my view that we are looking for a potentially dangerous individual, who may have deliberately set out to abuse a child. ''I remain confident that he will be caught.''

The inquiry has recently focused on cars spotted in the area on December 27, and officers were close to eliminating some of the vehicles seen on the night.

Anyone with information should call the incident room on 0191 214 6555 ex 63806.