POLICE were due to speak to revellers in Melksham last night to pick up vital clues in their hunt for a sex attacker.

Officers hope their inquiries will encourage anyone holding key information about a sex attack on a 31-year woman to come forward.

Detective Constable Les Johnson is heading the investigation and is studying CCTV tapes from town centre pubs.

The victim's clothes have been taken away for DNA analysis and police are now hoping for new leads to investigate.

The woman was grabbed from behind and pulled into dense undergrowth along a footpath past Clacker's Brook at 2.45am on September 5.

Two men frightened off the attacker when they heard the woman's screams and rushed to her aid.

This attack was on the same stretch of path as an unsolved rape in December 2001 when a 19-year-old woman suffered an agonising 20-minute assault.

Uniformed officers in Melksham have stepped up patrols after another attack on a 26-year-old woman on Thursday.

She was left shaken and bruised after being punched in the face but did not need hospital treatment.

The woman was walking from the town centre at 5am along a footpath between Sandridge Road and Blackmore Road when a man asking for a cigarette light approached her.

He ran off after punching her. Police have carried out house-to-house inquiries and have studied CCTV tapes.

The attacker is described as white, 6ft tall, of slim build, in his mid twenties with short, dark, messy, spiky hair. He wore dark clothing and had a strong, accent which was not local.

A police spokesman said: "At this time the motive for the attack is not clear and while keeping an open mind, the police are treating this as an isolated incident and are appealing for information from anyone who may have seen or heard anything to contact Melksham police.

"Police would also like to hear from anyone who may have been asked for a light, or who may have seen a man answering the description, either before or after the time of the attack, at any other location."

Police and pub landlords are urging women not to walk home alone at night to prevent any further attacks.

Sergeant Mike White, of Melksham Police, said: "We're trying to get the safety message across as well as reassuring people that Melksham is one of the safest places to live."

Anyone with information about any of the attacks can phone Melksham Police on (01225) 703444 or Crimest-oppers on (0800) 555111.