Police seek witnesses to Tauranga sex attack

A young woman has told police she was sexually violated near this bridge in Tauranga last week. Picture / Alan Gibson

Tauranga police are still hunting for a man allegedly responsible for a late-night sex attack on a 20-year-old woman.

They are also anxious to speak to two other people - one a male taxi driver and the other a woman - who may have seen the man or his victim near Hairini Bridge on Turret Rd last Wednesday night.

The man allegedly accosted the woman about 11pm as she walked south along the busy road, which links central Tauranga with Welcome Bay.

Police are releasing few details of the attack, saying only that it happened near the bridge and that a resident heard a woman screaming.

The victim, a shop worker, described her attacker as a short, stocky Maori in his mid-40s, with dark to greying hair.

He was possibly wearing a long, dark oilskin-type coat.

On Saturday, police said the initial complaint of sexual assault was being investigated as sexual violation by rape.

Detective Sergeant Paul Basham said yesterday the two potential witnesses reportedly in the area at the time were yet to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to call Tauranga police on (07) 577-4300 or (0800) SPEAKUP.