BY CHARLOTTE NEWTON A MANHUNT for a suspected serial robber has been stepped up, after a sixth woman was violently attacked. The woman, in her 20s, was approached from behind by a man brandishing a knife, as she walked along Crescent Road, Crouch End, at 8.10pm. The man grab

A MANHUNT for a suspected serial robber has been stepped up, after a sixth woman was violently attacked.

The woman, in her 20s, was approached from behind by a man brandishing a knife, as she walked along Crescent Road, Crouch End, at 8.10pm. The man grabbed her bag and ran off in the direction of Crouch Hill.

This was the second attack in a matter of days in Crescent Road. On Saturday (September 13) at 8.40pm, a 20-year-old woman was robbed at knifepoint by a man who grabbed her bag.

Just two hours later, a woman in her 20s, was in a phone box in Upper Tollington Park in Finsbury Park, when a man of a similar description opened the door and held her at knifepoint, before fleeing with her bag.

Police are now tracking a black man aged around 30, of slim to medium build, with a bad complexion.

"We are investigating six robberies on the west of the borough against lone females," said Det Sgt Noel Stoddart of Haringey's Robbery Squad.

"The offences took place after 9pm into the early hours and the suspect descriptions are very similar.

"We urge people to be alert to their surroundings, travel with friends if possible and keep to well-lit areas. Additional police patrols are being tasked to the area and we are doing all that we can to identify and arrest the perpetrator swiftly."

His warning came after a series of attacks over recent weeks. The first incident took place on September 2 in Onslow Gardens, Muswell Hill, at 10.50pm, when a woman in her 30s was approached from by a man behind. He held a knife to her throat and ordered her to hand over her bag before fleeing towards Connaught Gardens.

On September 7 at 1am, a 50-year-old woman was attacked in Woodland Rise, Muswell Hill, and the attacker again approached from behind and ordered her to hand over her bag before fleeing towards Cranley Gardens.

And on September 10, at 10pm in Park Avenue North, Alexandra Park, a woman in her 40s was approached from behind by a man who grabbed her bag.

Anyone with information about these attacks should call police on 020-8345 0885 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.