Neighbours say two sexual assaults in alleyways in Hendon left them feeling “sickened and terrified”.

Police were called to the path off Queens Road, Hendon, at 8.40pm on Sunday to reports of a woman screaming.

They found a woman with minor facial injuries who had been sexually assaulted.

The suspect had already fled the scene.

The attacker is described a white man, around 5ft 6ins tall and of average build. He was wearing dark clothing with a hood.

On Friday, February 13, a woman in her 20s was sexually assaulted in the walkway between Sunny Gardens Road and Downage, in Hendon, at 7pm.

The woman was walking towards Hendon Central Tube station where she was grabbed by a man who physically assaulted her and stole her brown leather purse.

The suspect is described as a white man in his early 20s, approximately 5ft 10ins tall and of skinny build. He was wearing a black jumper with a logo and carrying a red bag.

Police are unable to confirm whether the two incidents are linked.

Women say they are now avoiding the area close to Northern Line station out of fear the attackers will strike again.

One woman said: “Whoever is doing this - whether it’s one person or two - is the lowest form of human life there is. How dare they go around terrifying people in this way.

“It sickens me and really gets my blood boiling. How people think they’ve got the right to go and ruin someone else’s life, for a couple of seconds of pleasure, is beyond me.

“The sooner they catch the person who did this and throw him into a jail cell the better. He is scum.”

Another woman says she will no longer let her 14-year-old daughter walk home from Hendon Central station after school every day.

The woman, a paralegal who also has a five-year-old daughter, said: “Yesterday, I made her go to a different station and I paid for a taxi. After two attacks on women in the same month, you can’t take chances.

“It’s expensive but you can’t put a price on a person’s life and I want to know she’s safe from the horrible person who did this.

“It’s disgusting, really.”

Another man said his daughter changed her travel plans back home from work by getting a bus from Golders Green to avoid walking through the alleyways from Hendon Central.

He says the area is “badly lit” and says more needs to be done to protect people walking home in the dark in the subways.

He said: “Something needs to be done to alert all vulnerable members of the public - especially elderly and young females to avoid further tragedies occurring.   It is getting out of hand.”

No arrests have been made relating to either attack but police are investigating.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or to remain anonymous Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.