Detectives have issued this efit of a man they would like to speak to after a woman was sexually assaulted as she walked her dog.

The attack happened on Tuesday, August 21, on the Coney Banks in Chatham, when a woman out walking her dog was approached from behind.

Her dog may have saved her from the daylight attack after she was grabbed and thrown to the ground by a man as she walked the animal across the banks.

The 28-year-old woman, who has not been named, was walking her pet in the area at about 10.30am last Tuesday, when a man approached her from behind.

He grabbed her around the mouth and knocked her to the ground and sexually assaulted her. It is believed he put his hand up her top.

But she was able to shout to her pet, which is thought to have been off the lead, to come to her aid.

As the woman was struggling to get away, the obedient dog came bounding towards her and started barking.

As the animal neared the pair, the man was frightened off. He ran away from the scene, leaving the woman lying on the ground.

The incident sparked a police search of the area and officers in patrol cars were sent to the wasteland to find him.

The police helicopter was scrambled in a bid to help the ground officers locate him, but after an extensive search of the banks and the fields nearby, no one matching the description given by the woman was found.

At the time, a family member who did not want to be named, said: “She was very frightened and she has been left shaken up by this incident.

“The man just grabbed her from behind and she was knocked to the ground, luckily she managed to call the dog and it came back and the man then ran off.”

A spokesman for Medway Police, said: “The man is described as being in his late 40s, tanned with some stubble and was wearing a red baseball style cap which was pulled down over his eyes.

“The man was also described as being of a large build and smelt strongly of tobacco and was wearing a light blue polo shirt, straight leg blue jeans and white trainers.”

If you recognise the image or can help police with their inquiries, call 101 quoting reference XY//025319/12.