This is the face of the "dirty looking" man police believe sexually assaulted a teenage girl in broad daylight.

The 18-year-old was wrestled to the ground and attacked as she walked towards Northlands Park in Felmores, Pitsea.

She first spotted the man as she walked towards an underpass beneath Ashlyns, linking the park and the estate.

As she entered the subway she realised the man was behind her.

A police spokesman said: "He asked her if she had a cigarette. She said no, but he continued to pester her.

"Then he took hold of her with both hands and pushed her off the path onto the grass.

"He tripped her up so she was on her back then he indecently assaulted her.

"She was shouting and screaming and managed to fight him off. Then she struggled to her feet and ran towards the lakes in the park.

"She last saw him walking back towards the underpass and the estate."

The attack happened at about 4.50pm to 5pm on Tuesday, July 20.

Police are still trying to trace a woman on a horse who saw the victim as she entered the underpass.

Officers are also keen to speak to anglers who were fishing in the lakes.

Det Sgt John Moran, from Basildon CID, said: "It was a nasty attack because the woman was dragged to the ground.

"She did a good job in fighting him off and screaming, which is what stopped it."

The victim said her attacker was aged between 18 to 22, about 5ft 10ins to 6ft with mousey, light brown hair, about one and a half inches in length.

She described it as being messy and unkempt.

He wore a short-sleeved, polo-type, bright red Aertex shirt and black bottoms.

Her attacker smelt of smoke and had faint stubble on a pale dirty face.

Police are still not ruling out a possible link to the rape of a 16-year-old at Felmores on Saturday, July 17, just after midnight.

The girl was subjected to a ten-minute ordeal in a copse close to Malyons Green.

Det Sgt Moran added: "We are keeping an open mind about whether this attack is linked to the rape because it is in a very similar location."

If you can add any information, or recognise this e-fit, please call Det Sgt Tony Buckley at Pitsea CID on 01268 584212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

Wanted - do you know this man?

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