A SIX-week delay in making people aware of a sexual assault in a residential road was “unfortunate,” police have admitted.

A 24-year-old woman was attacked on Stewards Green Road, Epping, at about 12.30am on Saturday, July 23, by a man in his 40s, who she believes followed her there from the Tube station.

The stranger grabbed the woman from behind by the arms opposite Epping Golf Course, but she fought him off and he ran back down Bower Hill towards the station.

The police first released details of the attack on Thursday (September 1), together with an appeal for witnesses to come forward.

Stewards Green Road resident Jan Antrobus, 42, said: “I didn’t know anything about it.

“My middle daughter, who’s 10, was playing in the field over the holidays and came back a bit freaked-out because she saw two men in a car looking across the field.

“It would possibly have made me think twice about that.”

Her neighbour, David Wallis, 21, said: “A police officer came and said an incident had happened outside here at about midnight, but we didn’t know anything about it.

“I think she came around the next day. I asked what happened and she couldn’t say anything then.

“I think people should have been told about it before.”

Another resident, Ingrid Black, 53, said: “I think telling us before the school holidays would have been good, because the youngsters have been out all summer.

“The police didn’t come to this house. I don’t remember what I was doing on that date now.”

A police spokesman said officers had called at homes in the surrounding area following the attack.

He added: “The delay is unfortunate and in an ideal world, we would have exhausted other lines on enquiry more quickly.

He said there had been delays in the “mechanical process” of gathering CCTV and other evidence.

“One of the dangers is that if we put out a public appeal and the description is wrong or information is wrong in any way, we might contradict evidence we want to put before a court,” he added.

“The other lines on enquiry in the end didn’t produce anything.

“I think that’s something that we will look at very closely in future and will keep under review.”

Anyone with information on the assault should call Pc Lisa Kennedy on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

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