Police are urgently appealing for witnesses after two teenagers were indecently assaulted in Lancaster and Morecambe in the space of 12 hours.

In the first incident, a 15-year-old local girl was saved from a more serious attack after two passing motorists intervened.

She was assaulted at 9.10pm on Monday night, on Torrisholme Road, after she got off a bus on the outskirts of Ryelands Park.

She walked along the main road towards Torrisholme and had just passed under the railway bridge when she realised she was being followed by a man, who stepped up his pace to come up behind her.

He grabbed her right arm and took hold of her neck with his other hand, and indecently assaulted her.

As she tried to fight him off, a blue car - probably R-registered - pulled up, and two women inside confronted the man, who loosened his grip on the girl, allowing her to struggle free and run off to a friend's house.

The man was white, around 25 years old, 5 ft 8ins tall, of skinny build with short, black hair.

He was wearing dark blue jeans, a dark shirt with a possible white stripe down the side and white trainers.

He spoke with a local accent, and smelled of drink.

Det Sgt Salisbury asked the two women in the car or anyone who been in pubs in the area that night, and recognised the description of the man, to contact police.

Just hours later an 18-year-old girl was indecently assaulted on a cycle track off Brenjean Road, Morecambe, as she made her way to work between 6.50am and 6.58am on Tuesday.

As she rounded a corner she realised a man who had been walking ahead of her had disappeared.

She was then grabbed from behind, with the attacker wrapping his left arm across her chest and putting his right hand over her mouth.

He then punched her right cheek, and shoved her face-down on the floor.

As she struggled to escape, he pushed her into a dyke where he indecently assaulted her before fleeing the scene.

The attacker, who was in his late 20s or early 30s, was 5ft 10ins tall, wearing dark trousers, a woollen hat, and dark, grey bubble bomber jacket.

He was possibly carrying a rucksack, and his clothes would have been muddy as a result of his attack.

Det Sgt Salisbury said there was no clear link between the two incidents, but it could not be ruled out.

He urged anyone with information about either attack to contact police on 01524-63333.

On Friday afternoon (October 25), in an unrelated incident, an 18-year-old woman was indecently assaulted by a drunk as she travelled on a bus to the West End of Morecambe.

He walked up to the woman and sat by her before exposing himself and carrying out the assault as the bus was on Westgate, between 5.45pm and 6pm.

He is described as 6ft tall with dark, brown, greying, straggly hair, collar length at the back and eyebrow length at the front, a full beard and moustache and a nose described as ' red, like a drunk's.'

He wore a tweed jacket with small grey checks, grey trousers and grey shoes.

The man was also said to smell strongly of drink.