men who snatched a woman off the street and sexually assaulted her, it was revealed yesterday.

For the car used in the attack stopped at the Esso City station on Par-la-Ville Road to allow one of the men to buy cigarettes before they drove to nearby Bakery Lane, Pembroke, where the Friday night assault took place.

It is understood detectives have already taken tapes from the gas station for examination.

The 35-year-old Warwick woman's ordeal began after she was grabbed by two men as she walked through a children's playground off Court Street around 10 p.m.

on Friday.

The two men bundled her into a car driven by another man and drove her to a secluded driveway off Bakery Lane, stopping off at the gas station on the way.

After the serious sexual assault, the woman was dumped and the car drove off.

She was able to make her way along Serpentine Road and flagged down a woman driver in what was described as a small white car near The Royal Gazette's offices on Par-la-Ville Road.

The woman driver took the victim to a neighbour's house in Warwick, where she called Police.

Yesterday Police appealed for the woman who stopped to help the shocked woman to come forward.

A Police spokeswoman said: "Police are appealing to the female motorist who helped the victim and anyone else who may know the suspects or who may have information to contact Hamilton CID.'' She added that informants could also give information anonymously through the special Crimestoppers hotline.

Police have also issued descriptions of three men they want to interview in connection with the incident.

One is described as tall, light-skinned and with curly hair. Another is said to be dark-skinned with short hair and a West Indian accent.

The third suspect, who was driving the car, was described as tall, dark-skinned and wearing a hat and dark jacket. All were said to be in their 30s.

The attack comes only days after a massive phone survey commissioned by the Island's Women's Resource Centre revealed that nearly half the women spoken to believed that sexual assault and rape was a major problem in Bermuda.

A total of eight out of ten in the poll of almost 280 people agreed or agreed strongly that sexual assaults, including rape, were a serious blight on Bermudian life.

The percentage of women who viewed sex crime as a major problem in Bermuda, however, was almost double that of men.