DETECTIVES investigating a serious sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl on Southampton Common have questioned another teenage girl who claims to have been stalked by a man answering the same description.

Natalie King, 14, said she was approached several times over a four-month period until February 2001 by a man matching the sex attacker's description as she walked past All Saints Church in Kendal Avenue, Millbrook - the scene of Sunday night's attack.

Det Chief Inspector Bob Duncan, in charge of the inquiry said: "We are taking this other teenage girl's stalking claim very seriously. Officers have been taking detailed statements from the girl and her mother.

"Their description of the stalker is uncannily like the man we are looking to question over the sexual assault.

"However, we can't yet say whether or not the incidents are linked.

"I was not aware of the previous stalking allegation and I am in the process of speaking to officers at Shirley CID about it."

Natalie's mother Andrea, of Brean Close, Millbrook said: "Reading about this sex attack close to where my daughter was being stalked has made our whole family physically sick.

"On one occasion a man matching the description of the sex attacker pulled up outside our home in his car and asked to speak to my daughter by name. I was shocked and asked what he wanted with her but he said he had got the wrong girl and drove away.

"It made me think how long he had been watching our home for a sight of my daughter. It's a horrible thought.

"I also have another younger daughter who could have been a target for this man. We spoke to several police officers over my daughter's stalking nightmare but have heard nothing until now.

"Why did they not act before?"

Yesterday the sex attack victim bravely returned to the scene of her abduction yesterday afternoon to give police a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding the traumatic incident. Officers also continued house-to-house inquiries in the area.

DCI Duncan said his inquiry team were still hoping to hear from more members of the public who might provide the vital pieces of information which lead to the arrest of the attacker.

He said: "We have received some calls over the incident but not as many as we would like.

"All Saints Church is clearly visible from many homes in the area and a number of people may have seen something."

Police are keen to speak to two young men seen near the Burgess Road phone box where the 13-year-old made her 999 call to police after fleeing from her attacker.