A PETRIFIED woman who was carrying bags of shopping was “grabbed in the chest” by a man who sexually assaulted her in broad daylight in an underpass.

The victim, who wants to remain anonymous, revealed how the man, who she had seen loitering near another woman just minutes before she was attacked, approached her from behind while she was carrying two bags.

The 48-year-old, who was walking towards the town centre at the underpass near Maplewood Court on Wednesday at noon, claims the man put his arms over the top of hers, before grabbing her chest and fleeing.

This follows a spate of sexual assaults in Basildon earlier this year, which saw four women attacked in February.

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This sparked a CCTV appeal, with Essex Police wanting to speak to a black man, pictured wearing light coloured coats.

The victim of the latest attack believes the attacker matches the description of the man in the CCTV appeal.

She said: “I feel so ashamed and embarrassed. It all happened so quickly, it was horrible.

“He sprinted back out of the underpass before I realised what had happened.

“It was the same man I had seen out of my window a few minutes earlier.”

On February 5, a woman was followed by a man on Broadhurst Avenue at 2pm, before a woman was grabbed on Wickhay three hours later.

Three days later, a women was assaulted in Pamplins in broad daylight.

The fourth attack in February, the same day as the third, involved a woman being grabbed in the chest from behind.

All four incidents were linked.

Police are probing whether the incident on Wednesday is linked to “any other incident.”

The 48-year-old added: “I haven’t stopped crying since. My husband is distraught, he feels like he hasn’t looked after me properly.”

Basildon has also seen a serial flasher expose himself to a number of women.

A spokesman from Essex Police, said they are investigating.