Detectives investigating two serious assaults which happened on Porthminster Beach, St Ives, have released CCTV footage of a person they are keen to identify.

Police previously issued an appeal following a serious assault on a woman whilst she was alone in her tent on the beach.

The incident happened between the evening of Wednesday, September 18 and the early hours of Thursday, September 19.

The victim, a woman in her 30s, sustained serious neck injuries consistent with being strangled.

During another earlier incident on August 23, a female was sexually assaulted whilst on the beach in the early hours of the morning.

A 32-year-old local man who was previously arrested in connection to his incident has now been released with no further action.

Detective Inspector Pete Found, from the local investigation team said: “We received two separate allegations, both having taken place in the early hours of the morning. In both incidents, the female victims were alone when they were subjected to a serious assault and we believe these are linked.

“We continue to concentrate our efforts to identify the offender. As part of our investigation, we have recovered CCTV footage from the Tregenna Hill area of St Ives showing a person who we believe may have information which is key to this investigation.

“As you can see in the footage, the person is male and wearing a black hooded top with a very distinct pattern on the back. Do you recognise this person? Do you recognise this hooded top? We are appealing for anyone with information to come forward and contact us.

“Or indeed if this is you, then please make contact with us. We will be able to exclude any innocent party from the investigation and so it is vitally important that anybody with any information in relation to these offences contacts the police.

DI Found continued: “Whilst these incidents are extremely rare in St Ives it is important that people remain vigilant. We ask that people look out for each other and to not walk alone in isolated areas; stay with friends during a night out and ensure journeys home are arranged.

“We have attended local schools to give safety advice and offer reassurance and we have arranged extra police patrols in the area.”

Anyone with any information please contact Devon and Cornwall Police via 101 quoting log number 243 of Thursday, November 7 or via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.