in broad daylight near a South Shore beach.

The attack on Sunday afternoon came just days after another woman was chased by motorcycle riders on South Shore Road and attacked.

Sunday's incident came when two teenaged visitors walking along the sand dunes between Horseshoe Bay and Chaplin Bay were confronted by a man who attacked and sexually assaulted one of them.

Her 15-year-old friend fled for help, but the victim, also 15, managed to break loose from her attacker and run to safety. Police have not disclosed how the man assaulted the girl.

The attack prompted warnings to women not to go walking or riding alone, especially in secluded areas.

The first attack this week occurred in the early hours of Thursday when two men on motorcycles dragged a 25-year-old Warwick woman off her bike while she was riding along the South Shore in Paget. They beat and terrorised her at a nearby gas station before fleeing when they saw a car.

Ms Shanda Simmons of the Women's Resource Centre said there seemed to be more sexual attacks occurring on women in deserted places by strangers.

"At a time when most sex attacks on women in Bermuda are by acquaintances, there seems to be a shift,'' she said. "We are seeing more outright stranger on stranger attacks. Maybe things are changing.'' Even though the scenic South Shore was usually crowded with sightseers and beach-goers in the day, Ms Simmons said it could be a "very lonesome and isolated'' stretch at night.

She appealed to women to use common sense and not to "set themselves up''.

"When I come home at night I always try to stick to the middle of the road or travel with someone,'' she said.

She believed most sexual attacks were not spontaneous, but premeditated.

"When you travel early in the mornings or late at night, you shouldn't follow the same route all the time, but vary it,'' she advised.

Police spokesman Sgt. John Dale said Det. Sgt. Steve Shaw was dealing with the beach attack.

And an incident room headed by Chief Insp. Carlton Adams had been set up to deal with Thursday's gas station attack as well as another assault which occurred on Sunday when a 31-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in her First Avenue, Devonshire apartment at about 5.30 a.m.

Sgt. Dale said "a very active'', but not always visible Police Beach Patrol kept a daily watch on Bermuda's beaches.

He said: "We do not want to deter people from enjoying themselves, but in this day and age, from what you read and hear in the news, women must take precautions. At night it is advisable to travel with someone.'' Parks director Mr. Bill Cook was "shocked'' to hear of the attack on the 15-year-old girl.

Up until the weekend, a Park Rangers foot patrol had been keeping a lookout on Warwick and Southampton beaches in the day, he said. It folded because it was made up of college students who had to return to school, he said.

Members had radioed Police on a few occasions this summer to report cases of women apparently being harassed, he said. But mostly they dealt with people soliciting on public beaches asking for money for carrying beach gear, thefts and people in "improper beach attire''.