POLICE are appealing for anyone with information to come forward after a report of a sexual assault in the Loftus area.

Officers received a report that a man, in his 20s, had been punched in the face and sexually assaulted and had personal possessions including a Nike backpack and a Huawei P20 light phone stolen from him.

The incident happened in what the victim described as a wooded area in Loftus between 9pm and 10pm on Friday (August 27).

The suspect is described as a white male, around 34-years-old, 6ft tall, of average build and with brown hair around the back and sides and a distinctive red Mohawk style on the top.

READ MORE: People in part of North East referred 1,700 times for mental health support in a MONTH

He was wearing black square rimmed glasses, a grey hooded top, grey bottoms and grey trainers.

Detectives are appealing to anyone who may have seen a man matching this description in the Loftus Market Place area on Friday afternoon, or anyone who may have located a Nike backpack or Huawei P20 light phone in or around the Loftus area to get in touch.

Anyone who may have information, CCTV or dash cam footage is asked to contact Detective Constable Dave Alcock from Redcar & Cleveland CID, on the non-emergency number 101, quoting incident number 145160.

Independent charity Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111, or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Teesside Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054