Gardai have urged women to take all personal safety precautions after a woman was attacked outside the back door of her home.

The incident happened close to Tamney village, between Kerrykeel and Fanad.

The woman managed to give Gardai a good description of the man and officers have carried out door-to-door enquiries as a result of the attack.

The attack happened at around 10pm on Friday night last but details of the frightening incident are only now coming to light.

Garda Superintendent David Kelly said they are taking the incident very seriously.

He also asked women in the locality to be extra careful for their personal safety.

Supt. Kelly said the man who attacked the woman at Tamney was around five feet nine inches tall and of slim build.

He was wearing a green army type jacket and hood. He had blue well-worn runners with white laces and also wore a white jumper type garment with sleeves that came down over his fingers.

Gardai at Milford are appealing to anyone who might have been on the Massmount – Tamney road or the general area and may have seen a vehicle or individual around the time of ten to eleven o’clock to report that information to them urgently.

The attack happened just two days before a 14 year old boy was approached by a man in a white van who asked him to get into the vehicle.

The boy, who was riding his bike on the outskirts of Kerrykeel, sped off to his house and raised the alarm.

The boy was able to dislodge the wing mirror of the van and managed to create an escape route to get home safely.

The driver was hooded: may be of stocky build and when he failed to lure the boy into the van he reversed back out onto the Kerrykeel-Shankey main road.

Supt Kelly says these two incidents are very serious and he’s appealing to anyone who may have been in the areas concerned or might have witnessed suspicious movements to contact the Gardai at Milford on 07491-53060.