A 17-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged over two city centre sexual assaults.

He appeared in custody at Brighton Youth Court today charged with sexually assaulting a woman in North Street on October 5 and a woman in Seymour Street the following day.

The boy entered a not guilty plea and was committed for trial, in custody, with a preliminary hearing at Lewes Crown Court on January 3, 2020.

His arrest and charges follow an investigation by detectives from the Brighton Safeguarding Investigations Unit, working with officers in the city.

An ongoing police investigation into five offences in which women were sexually assaulted in Brighton city centre, including the attacks over which the boy was charged, has been named Operation Downgate.

Enquiries are also continuing into the other three incidents, in Ditchling Road on July 24, in East Street on October 11, and in Kings Road on October 20.

Officers are currently trying to identify a man inrelation to the attack in Kings Road and have, today, released an updated appeal for information on his identity.

A Sussex Police spokesman said "there have been no further incidents since 20 October".

He added: "Throughout the continuing investigation, detectives had been considering possible links between the offences, including the consideration that the same person could have been responsible for all the attacks.

"However further detailed enquiries, including information from victims, further CCTV images and information from the public led the police to conclude that not all the attacks are linked and therefore they were not all carried out by the same person."