Police have sealed off a section of the Kent University campus in Canterbury after an assault on a student

Investigators say the 20-year-old woman was attacked by an unknown man in Giles Lane at 2.46am today, as she returned home from a night out in the city.

Staff and students arrived on campus this morning to find a path and bushes sealed off.

Two female police community support officers were guarding the path – which links the residential area at Parkwood with Giles Lane and the Keynes College car park – as rush hour traffic piled into the university.

Police say they are in the very early stages of their investigation. They have not established whether it was physical or sexual assault.

Spokesman Nicola Foreman said: "Detectives are currently working to establish the circumstances of the incident but would ask anyone who may have been in the area at the time or who may have seen the incident to call us.

"They are trying to establish the nature of the assault at the moment, and it's very early days."

The sealed off area is half a mile away from the Crab and Winkle Way, which connects Whitstable and Canterbury.

One sex pest is believed to have been behind five incidents of indecent assault and exposure - including three in the Crab and Winkle - since January.

Police have arrested and bailed a man in connection with them.

Kent University's press office has been asked for a comment, but has not yet responded.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 01843 222289 quoting 02-104.