One was reported to have been hit with a bottle, sexually assaulted and robbed, while the other was punched to the ground.

However, the alleged offender got more than he bargained for in the second attack when a hero and two others chased and cornered him until police arrived.

The drama first unfolded at around 7.30pm as a 31-year-old woman from Hemel Hempstead was walking along the canal path near Ebberns Road when a man approached her.

Police have been told he offered her a drink and then a cigarette, which she refused, before he hit her with a bottle on the side of the head and she fell to the ground.

The woman said he took £20 from her and molested her before a passer-by came along and he ran off.

One hour later a woman from Hemel Hempstead, who turns 21 this month, claims she was walking near the canal at Sainsbury's when the same alleged offender punched her to the ground.

This was spotted by a 36-year-old IT worker who shouted out.

"He bolted like a rat out of a drainpipe," he said.

A 37-year-old management consultant was at home in Ebberns Road when he heard a loud bang as a man vaulted his garden gate. He went outside to see two men running up in pursuit.

The trio then went into the garden and surrounded the man and held him there until police arrived.

The householder said: "I suspected someone was in the garden.

"I grabbed my torch and went out the front door and shouted: "Is anyone there?"

"At that point two guys came running up in pursuit.

"I found him hiding behind the kids' house. We surrounded him.

"One guy picked up a chair. We were able to keep him back."

The father of two said he did not think of the danger.

"I was extremely unhappy," he said.

"My kids were upstairs and I had a man in the garden.

"I think the fact there were three of us meant he didn't try anything."

A man has now been remanded in custody in connection with the incidents.