PASSENGERS on a train that stopped in Taunton are being asked to help trace the owner of a dog that bit an elderly woman.

The victim, who was 72, suffered bite marks and bruising and needed a tetanus injection.

British Transport Police have released a CCTV image of a woman with a dog following the incident on the Penzance to Paddington London 8.30am service on Sunday, December 21.

PC Bob Edwards said the victim boarded coach D of the train at St Erth, Cornwall and a woman with a dog was sitting nearby.

He added: “A short time, later the first woman left her seat to get a hot drink from the buffet car.

“When she returned, she was bitten on her leg by the dog “She went to the toilet to examine her injuries, which required a tetanus vaccination.

“The woman and dog had gone by the time she returned to the carriage.

“The victim, from the west of Cornwall, suffered visible bite marks and bruising.”

PC Edwards said he wants to speak to a woman pictured on CCTV images who is believed to have got on the train at Redruth and got off at Par.

Anyone on the train, including people who travelled to or through Somerset, who recognises the woman and dog in the CCTV image should contact British Transport Police on 0800-405040 or text 61016 quoting reference B3-GSUM of 15/01/2015 – or call Crimestoppers free on 0800-555111.