Police officers have spent the night patrolling the streets of Clifton in the hunt to catch a Bristol sex attacker.

The attacker - dubbed the Bristol Groper - has sexually assaulted five women in as many weeks.

His most recent attack happened in the early hours of Friday morning, when he pounced on his latest victim in Cotham, at the corner of Hampton Park and Cotham Hill, just off Whiteladies Road.

The attack happened five weeks after the first indecent assault on October 12.

Police revealed on Thursday the others took place in Whiteladies Road, Alma Road, Pembroke Road and Hanbury Road, and stressed that none of the women were raped.

Superintendent Ian Wylie, head of operations for Bristol, said: “This is what we believe to be the fifth indecent assault in the last five weeks.

“There are clear links between the offences and they have been very distressing for the victims, who are all young women.

“This sort of offence is very rare but we would like women to take extra care - walk home with someone else, use a taxi and use well-lit streets.

“Women do need to be cautious but we don’t want to raise concerns unnecessarily.

“We have got a number of lines of inquiry and as the result of our appeal, we have got additional witnesses who have come forward.”

Until Thursday, police had failed to warn the public that there had been a string of sex attacks.

Ruth Jackson, vice president of the University of Bristol students union, said: “Considering several attacks have happened in a narrow set of streets, it is concerning that the public have not been made aware of this sooner.

“While it's understanding they [the police] do not want to cause alarm, it is important that people are informed so they can know to take extra caution in these areas until the attacker is caught.”

Supt Wylie said there was now a large team of officers involved in the investigation and there would be a big uniformed police presence in the Clifton area over the next few days to provide reassurance, give advice to women and find more witnesses.

He also appealed for any women who might have been attacked and not reported the matter to the police to come forward.

Supt Wylie would not go into details of how the attacker approached his victims but said there was a clear modus operandi.

He also said he was confident that with an experienced team of officers, the man would be caught.

The attacks have happened during the hours of darkness in the evening or into the early hours, with the victims women aged between about 20 and 30.

The man the police are hunting is white, about 5ft 10ins tall, with dark hair and wearing dark clothing.

Although there have been several weeks between the first attack and the latest assault, it is understood that detectives have only been linking them more recently.