A 20-year-old female visitor was sexually assaulted by a man seen lurking outside her Paget guest house.

Yesterday Police also revealed another woman had been the victim of an attempted sex assault. And a third woman spotted a man hanging suspiciously outside her home.

Recently there have been a string of sex assaults in Southampton, Warwick and Paget, which the Police believe could be linked.

The latest incident occurred on Sunday. The visitor first heard noises between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m.

She walked out of her guest home and confronted a male who ran off.

Forty minutes later she heard more noises and again stepped outside her guest home and told the same man to leave the property. Before doing so he managed to ?touch the victim?s clothing?, Police said.

Another woman complained that she woke to find a man pulling at her blanket while she lay in bed. The 25 year old said it happened at about 1 a.m. She woke up and saw a man crouching by her bed and began to scream. He then ran out of the Southampton house. The man did not touch the victim while he was at her residence.

Police received a third report of a man lurking outside of a woman?s home. A 38-year-old woman said she arrived at her Paget residence in a taxi at 2 a.m. She went into her bathroom and when she came out she said she saw a man standing outside her property looking at her. She began to scream and the man left the premises. She told Police that he was wearing a dark hooded top and dark trousers.

Police are appealing for the taxi driver who dropped off the victim to contact the Serious Crime Unit at 295-0011.

These latest incidents are among a number of sexual assaults in Southampton, Warwick and Paget. Many women have reported that a man has entered their house in the early hours of the morning and assaulted them.

On each occasion Police discovered that the suspect entered the house by a door or window that was not properly secured.

Seven officers are investigating the string of assaults, which they believe to be linked, and are urging the public to notify them about suspicious males lurking around their neighbourhoods. Police also urge residents to properly secure all windows and doors.

On November 10 Police said that there had been six potentially linked sexual assaults in the three parishes.