AN e-fit image has been released as police continue to investigate an attempted sexual assault near Pershore.

A woman in her 40s was with her dog on the river towpath between Eckington and Pershore at around 7pm on Wednesday May 23 when a boy believed to be in his teens approached her from behind.

He pushed her to the ground before asking her to perform a sexual act. He then allowed the woman to get up and apologised before the woman left the area and reported the incident to police.

The male is described as being white, in his mid-teens, around 6ft tall, of slim build, with shadows around his eyes, freckles across his nose and brown hair with a floppy fringe, which was short on the sides.

He was believed to be wearing a dark coloured bomber style jacket and had white earphones at the time of the incident.

Detective sergeant Ollie Moore said: "I would like to reassure the community that we take all reports of this nature extremely seriously and we are keen to identify the suspect as soon as possible.

"We are carrying out a number of lines of enquiry as part of our investigation and are appealing for anyone who saw the incident or witnessed anyone acting suspiciously in the area at the time to come forward.

"We hope the efit image may trigger a witness to come forward as any information, no matter how small, could be significant to our investigation."

Anyone with information, call West Mercia Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 quoting incident number 666S of 23 May.