A 15-year-old girl managed to fight off a gang of youths who indecently assaulted and attempted to rape her.

The attack took place in Banbury during the early hours of Sunday, April 29, but was not reported to police until a week later.

The girl, who lives in a nearby village, was approached by three young men while she was sitting on a bench overlooking the canal outside the Castle Quay shopping centre.

The men made indecent suggestions to her so she walked away, past Banbury Cross and up South Bar before turning left into Old Parr Road.

When she reached the junction with Old Parr Close, where there is grass and trees in front of a block of flats, she realised the three youths were nearby.

They pushed her into the trees and indecently assaulted her. She punched one of them and managed to run away.

All the youths are thought to be aged between 18 and 20. One was white, about 5ft 10in tall, of medium build, with a spotty complexion and short dark brown hair. He wore a dark jumper and blue jeans.

The second was possibly of mixed race, taller, with short curly, dark hair, wore a dark coat, blue jeans, a white cap and white trainers.

The third man was white, fair-haired with a quiff and blue eyes. He wore a light blue jumper and jeans.

Det Con Steve Butler said: "We are treating this as an attempted rape. This was a terrifying experience for this young lady who did nothing to encourage these youths.

"Their behaviour was abominable. This happened in daylight in a busy residential part of Banbury and if anybody saw something suspicious, at or near that road junction, we want to hear from them."

Banbury CID can be contacted on 01295 754575 or you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.