A HOODED man pounced on a young mother and carried out a sex attack as she pushed a double buggy with her two sleeping babies inside.

The woman was grabbed from behind, pinned against a wall then sexually assaulted for up to ten minutes.

Last night, the 21-year-old told how she was now "too petrified" to set foot out of her home.

At 4pm on Monday, the victim was pushing her children in the buggy after visiting her uncle's home in Seaham, County Durham.

She was near the junction of Milton Close and Malvern Crescent in the town when the blond-moustached man struck.

Speaking from her mother's home, she told The Northern Echo how she was suddenly grabbed from behind as she reached the first house in Milton Close.

The terrified mother was pushed against a wall, leaving the buggy and her sleeping babies on an empty footpath.

She said: "I was too shocked to speak and too petrified to look at him, and all the time it was happening I was frightened for my two babies left there alone on the side of the road."

After the attack, her assailant casually walked off in the direction of East Lea.

The traumatised victim remained rooted to the spot for a while before making her way in a daze to her mother's house.

She said: "I walked into the kitchen and my mother could see something had happened, and when she asked me what was wrong I burst into tears and told her, and she rang the police."

She also revealed how, when she was eight years old, she had experienced another approach by a pervert.

"This just brought all of that flooding back," she said.

The woman, who has lived in Seaham all her life, described last night how she regularly took her children out for a walk in their buggy.

She added: "But now I am too petrified to go out, especially with the children, and have to be taken everywhere by my partner in his car."

Unable to sleep, angry and scared over her ordeal, she said she had decided to speak out in the hope it would help catch her attacker.

She said: "This has completely changed my life, and I want him caught before it happens to anyone else.

"I have always felt happy walking around the area but I don't any more."

Police described the man as in his early 30s, about 5ft 4in, of medium build with a pale complexion and a blond moustache.

He was wearing a black "hoodie" with the hood pulled up, white track suit bottoms with three black stripes down the sides, and black trainers.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the police on 0845 60 60 365, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.