Police have called in a specialist criminal profiler in the hunt for the Thursday Night Rapist who has struck fear into West Sussex women.

They will also DNA test another 200 men in the hunt for the serial sex attacker, whose nickname comes from the night he strikes most frequently.

The attacker has raped one woman and indecently assaulted 14 others during the last four years in the Chichester and Bognor area.

Detectives hope a geographical profiler from the National Crime Faculty can find out where the rapist lives from the pattern of his previous attacks.

The officer in charge of the hunt, Detective Chief Inspector Steve Scott, said: "We are determined to use every tactic to catch this man and geographic profiling, which started in Canada, has proved to be a highly successful aspect of crime investigation.

"Detectives will be visiting various areas in Chichester close to the city centre which have been identified by the profiler to ascertain those whose descriptions fit the attacker and to carry out DNA tests."

The latest round of DNA testing will take the number of men checked by officers working on Operation Bobcat to 500.

All have been called in for testing because they match a description of the attacker.

He last struck in May, raping a 21-year-old woman at a hotel in Walberton, near Arundel.

Mr Scott has also appealed for two women who contacted the Operation Bobcat incident room offering information to call back.

One of the women called herself Toni and the other told an officer she suspected a member of her family.

He said: "We need to speak to these women again and if they are embarrassed at coming forward I can promise that we will speak to them in complete confidence."

Many of the man's victims have been students and police have been visiting colleges to issue safety tips.