A woman was dragged into bushes and violently sexually assaulted by a teenager as her two children cycled ahead in County Durham.

The married mother-of-two was walking her dog behind her two children along an isolated path when the crouching teenager, who could be as young as 14, sprang out of bushes and shoved the woman into the undergrowth.

He carried out what police have described as a ''serious sexual assault'' despite the frantic woman fighting back and trying to reason with him to stop.

Police said the woman was left distraught by the assault, during which she feared her attacker was going to kill her.

Detective Inspector Ian Phillips, of Darlington CID, said: ''She was absolutely petrified. She thought she was going to die and really is in a hell of a state. She has been strong enough though to give us enough detail to go on.''

He said the woman's two children had cycled far enough ahead not to be aware of what was happening to their mother.

She was left bruised and covered in nettle rashes following the attack.

The woman, in her 30s, was returning home after a family day out with her children on Bank Holiday Monday when she was dragged into undergrowth off Green Lane, in the Harrowgate Hill area of Darlington.

The attacker was described as being aged between 14 and 17, 5ft 8in, of stocky build with a round face and honey blond hair.

He was wearing a blue top and white tracksuit bottoms.

Updated:16.00 Wednesday, May 9