A woman in her 70s was headbutted by a man in an unprovoked attack near Colchester.

The woman was walking along the A120 Coggeshall Road, between Popular Nurseries and the Shed Centre, at Marks Tey when the incident happened at 3pm on Friday, August 30.

As she walked, the woman was approached by a man who, without warning, headbutted her before casually walking away.

The victim, who was left extremely shaken by the incident, suffered a split lip.

The woman was cared for by passing motorists who stopped to help and alerted police.

A 44-year-old man was arrested at the scene in connection with the incident on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He has been released on bail while enquiries continue.

Essex Police are continuing to investigate the incident and would like to hear from anyone who may have information.

Pc Kaycee Girling, investigating officer, said: "The victim in this incident was just walking along. The suspect said nothing to her before carrying out a violent and unprovoked attack.

"A number of motorists stopped to help and called us and we are extremely grateful to them. However we are still keen to hear from any other witnesses or motorists who saw what happened but have not yet come forward to us.

"We are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have been travelling along the A120 at the time and may have captured the incident on dash cam."

Anyone with information can contact PC Girling at Colchester on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.