A TAXI driver rescued a teenage girl from the clutches of two strangers.

Two men allegedly carried out an indecent assault on the 18-year-old, but a Cleveland Police spokesman said it could have been worse if the driver had not intervened.

The cabbie saw the girl lying on a bench near shops opposite the Empire night club in Middlesbrough's Corporation Road in the early hours of last Friday, it was revealed yesterday. He saw a man approach the girl and take her around the back of a row of shops. The taxi driver went to investigate and saw two men with the girl.

He challenged them and took the girl home.

The hunt is on for the two alleged attackers, one of whom is described as in his mid-twenties to 30 years old and about 5ft 9in, of medium build. He wore spectacles, a waist-length tan leather jacket and dark trousers.

His "scruffy" accomplice was aged about 40, about 6ft with greying hair and dressed in a grey suit.

Anyone who has any information is asked to call Cleveland Police on (01642) 303337.