AN ATTACKER may have lain in wait for a woman who had been out to visit a friend, police in Cheshire have said.

A man wearing a balaclava grabbed the woman and tried to pull her behind some bushes during the early hours of the morning as she walked home.

But officers believe the attack could be linked to an incident earlier when a man approached the woman as she set off for the evening. The attack happened at around 3am on Sunday, September 24 as the 20 year-old woman walked along Church Lane in Culcheth, Warrington.

A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said, as the victim walked near the youth centre, a man grabbed her by the hand and tried to pull her into the bushes, but the woman managed to free herself.

She said: "Police are investigating the possibility that this incident, which left the woman shaken but not seriously injured, may be connected to an earlier incident at around 8pm the evening before when the same woman was walking along Church Lane and she was approached by man who spoke to her."

The attacker is described as being around 5ft 9ins tall, of stocky build and wearing a zipped sports jacket.


Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Neil Gallagher on 0845 458 0000, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.