A COMMUNITY is demanding that CCTV cameras are installed in Castlefield immediately after a seven-year-old girl was subjected to a terrifying sexual assault.

The girl was pounced upon by a middleaged man near to an alleyway as she walked home with her younger sister last Wednesday at around 6.45pm.

The girl was brought back to her shocked mother by a teenager who had spotted the seven-year-old struggling and bravely intervened.

She said: "My daughter was crying when she came home and was so scared she was shaking."

Diane Glasgow, secretary of Castlefield Residents' Association, said she was appalled at the attack.

She said: "You don't expect things like that to happen on your doorstep. The Residents' Association is very concerned and we want this bloke taken off our streets."

The Residents' Association wants CCTV installed as soon as possible to help the community feel safer.

Wycombe district councillor Nigel Vickery (Booker and Castlefield, Lab) said the district council has already put in a bid to the Home Office in December, for four cameras in the area.

They would monitor the Nursery Green playground, near to Cross Road, and the shopping area on the corner of Booker Lane and Rutland Avenue.

He added: "We want this CCTV to help combat peoples' fear of crime."

Anne Stenner (Booker and Castlefield, Lab) agreed, adding: "Obviously, we don't want to impose on people's privacy, but we want people to be able to feel safe."

Cllr Peter Cartwright, chairman of the council's housing and economic development committee, said the council had worked closely with the police and the Residents' Association in submitting the bid and was looking for an early positive response from the Home Office.

Police are hunting for a man described as white, 5ft 6ins and of medium to large build with a round face and short, dark hair, possibly with a beard. He wore a dark woollen hat.

Call High Wycombe CID on (01494) 465888 or Crimestoppers on 0800 55511