DETECTIVES hunting a man in connection with the assault of a 13-year-old Wirral girl will make an appeal for information on BBC One's Crimewatch tonight.

Detective Inspector Mark Watson from Birkenhead CID will appeal to viewers for information about the assault, which happened in Moreton Cross on Thursday, June 19, 2008.

The girl's mother will also appear the show, which will be broadcast on BBC One at 9pm.

It will show a reconstruction of the incident in which a man led a 13-year-old schoolgirl away from a bus stop in Pasture Road in front of several people, to a secluded spot within the grounds of an old factory, before assaulting her.

The incident happened at around 5.30pm and detectives believe there would have been many people around in Pasture Road at that time who witnessed the initial contact between the offender and the victim at the bus stop who have not yet come forward.

They are also appealing for anyone who recognises a man captured in this CCTV filmed at Moreton train station, who left the area on a Liverpool-bound train shortly after the incident, to also get in touch.

DI Mark Watson, said: "The man we believe responsible is a dangerous man who was so brazen that he felt confident enough to take advantage of an innocent young girl in a populated area at a busy time of day.

"Despite enduring a terrible ordeal at the hands of this man, the victim remembers three distinctive things about her attacker that may help in identifying him.

"The first is that he was wearing a gold watch on his wrist, the second is a green tattoo on his left hand which she believes may have been a frog, and third, the offender dribbled saliva profusely during the attack.

"There are potentially lots of people who would have got a good look at this man when he first approached her at the bus stop but may have dismissed the incident thinking he was an older boyfriend, or they might have felt uncomfortable intervening.

"But the reality is that this was a sexual predator who led her away from the bus stop in Pasture Road to a patch of secluded land near the former Cadbury's factory, where he sexually assaulted her, before walking with her back to the main road.

"I am convinced that there are still people out there who will have vital information which could help us catch this man and put him before the courts. I would appeal to those people to come forward."

The offender told his victim that he was called 'Les' and that he was from Liverpool.

He is described as white, aged between 30 and 40-years-old, and he slobbered when he spoke.

He was of average build, had short greying hair, a wrinkled, stubbly face and was wearing a blue tracksuit and training shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call Wirral CID on 0151 777 2260 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.