Man arrested after several women sexually assaulted at Bradley Stoke nature reserve

Police investigating a serious sexual assault at a nature reserve in Bradley Stoke are linking the incident with a number of other sexual offences.

Officers say a woman was seriously sexually assaulted by a man while walking at the Three Brooks nature reserve on Thursday 4 August.

The force is now linking this offence to another incident where a woman was sexually assaulted by being touched inappropriately while at the nature reserve. It happened between 3.10pm and 5.10pm on Tuesday 23 August.

In a third incident a woman in her forties was pushed over by a man and sexually assaulted in Savages Wood. The offence took place sometime between 5.30pm and 6pm on Thursday 1 September.

A 36-year-old man has now been arrested in connection with the three offences and is in custody.

Inspector Jon Nash said: “We know this development in the investigation will be of concern to the local community and we have increased our reassurance patrols of the area in response.

"We’d encourage any local residents with worries or concerns to speak to the local Neighbourhood Policing team, or any officer on patrol in the area.

“We’ve updated the victims about the developments in this investigation and we’ll be keeping them fully updated as we progress our enquiries further. They will be offered access to any help or support they may need.

“We’re continuing to appeal to the public and local community to continue providing information to us and, as well as the additional patrols, officers will be carrying out further house-to-house enquiries in the Bradley Stoke area.

“We’d appeal to residents to come forward if they have any information which could assist our ongoing investigation, as well as any relevant CCTV, dashcam or doorbell footage, in and around the timeframes of the offences listed above."