POLICE are hunting a man who carried out a violent sex attack on a 17-year-old girl.

Officers were last night making door-to-door inquiries in the area in a bid to find any witnesses.

Det Sgt Don Stirton, of Swindon CID, urged anyone with information to come forward and said it highlighted the dangers of going off with strangers.

The teenage victim got into a taxi with the man, aged between 17 and 25, after meeting him at Shaw Village Centre. The pair were dropped off near the Running Horse pub on Wootton Bassett Road.

Det Sgt Stirton said the man's demeanour towards the woman then quickly changed and he subjected her to a violent, serious sexual assault.

The attack took place in Juno Way, Rushey Platt, off Wootton Bassett Road, between 6.30pm and 8pm on Friday, December 8.

Det Sgt Stirton said: "We are appealing for anyone who was in that area at that time who may have seen an Asian male alone or together with a young white female.

"At that time on a Friday night the Wootton Bassett Road is a busy road and the Running Horse pub would have had people coming and going.

"The actual incident was in an alleyway so it would be unusual to have a lot of traffic travelling there but people could have been driving by.

"With late night Christmas shopping there's likely to have been a lot of people about. We believe they were engaged in conversation for a short period of time before the incident so people might have thought it was an innocent thing."

Det Sgt Stirton said the police were following a number of possible leads in tracing the man. The taxi driver who gave the two a lift has been found and spoken to.

"In cases like this it's obviously important that we catch the person early," he said.

"There is a high chance, because of the time of day, that someone would have seen this male. It was a violent attack but the victim only received minor injuries."

The suspect is Asian, aged between 17 and 25, 5ft 11ins, and was of medium to broad build. He had short black hair and wore casual clothes.

Anyone with information can contact Det Sgt Stirton at Swindon police on 0845 408 7000 or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555111.