A SEX attacker who went to school in Wiveliscombe has been sentenced to nine years in prison after he carried out a reign of terror on women in Bath city centre.

Former firefighter Adrian Warburton also known as Michael - preyed on women for ten months in Bath, carrying out late night attacks on lone females as they walked home from pubs and clubs.

The 37-year-old married father-of-two from Trowbridge often wore a balaclava and grabbed his victims from behind, but was caught in one of the biggest undercover police operations in the West involving 80 officers.

He admitted six counts of sexual assault and three of assault by penetration at Bristol Crown Court and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

He was also given a six year extended sentence which means he will be supervised in the community when he is released from prison - and will remain on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

Warburton attended Bishops Lydeard Primary School, Kingsmead Community School in Wiveliscombe and Richard Huish College in Taunton.

His father, Rob Warburton, from Bishops Lydeard, was also a teacher at Kingsmead School, and one of the arresting officers, detective sergeant Andy Hodges, was his former classmate.

The sexual assaults were carried out between October 2004 and July 2005, normally in the early hours of the morning and after a number of reports of sexual assaults police worked round the clock to trace the offender. An operation was planned to take place on September 30 last year before the start of the new university term when Bath's nightlife was at its liveliest.

Officers in plain clothes were deployed to selected locations in the city where attacks had taken place. This included George Street - a street which most of the victims walked along at some point during their journey home.

Warburton was caught during the early hours of October 1 after he was spotted trawling the streets in his BMW.

He was arrested but released due to lack of evidence but on October 2 he tried to commit suicide by slitting his wrists and police found a written confession at his home.

Detective inspector Guy Turner, who led the investigation, said officers working on the case were determined to catch the man who caused distress not just to the victims but also to local residents in the area.

He said: "This sentence reflects the severity of the attacks which were extremely traumatic for the victims. I believe Warburton is a dangerous man and there is no doubt in mind that further offences would have been committed if we had not arrested him.

"He not only terrorised his victims but his actions had an impact on Bath's vibrant nightlife as many women feared for their own safety."