The net was closing in today on a man wanted for two sex attacks including an attempted murder on Ilkley Moor.

David Newton, 55, is now known to have checked into a guest house in the resort of St Ives, in Cornwall, on Saturday and then left suddenly on Sunday night, a West Yorkshire Police spokesman said.

He was wearing a dark blue T-shirt and blue shorts when he was last seen as he checked out at about 5.45pm.

And yesterday the police dragnet tightened as officers recovered Newton’s metallic blue Land Rover Freelander which had been caught on camera heading down the M5 towards the South-West.

A team from West Yorkshire Police travelled to St Ives to work alongside Cornwall and Devon officers who are co-ordinating the search for him.

Detective Superintendent Chris Thompson, who is leading the investigation, said Newton, of Knottingley, near Pontefract, was a “regular holidaymaker” in Cornwall and was known to fish off the Cornish coast.

He urged people who see him to dial 999 immediately.

Detectives in West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team are leading the hunt for Newton, who is wanted in relation to a vicious attack on Ilkley Moor almost two years ago to the day.

The attack has been linked through new DNA evidence to a rape – committed almost nine years earlier – on a 16-year-old girl in Primrose Valley, Halton, Leeds.

The Ilkley sex attack involved a 52-year-old woman who was walking her dog above the Panorama Reservoir on the moor on June 26, 2006.

She was approached by a man wielding a knife who knocked her to the ground.

The woman grabbed the knife and used it to jab her attacker in his body but was overpowered by the man who repeatedly punched her in the face until she lost consciousness.

When she came round 25 minutes later, she found herself alone on the moor.

The woman appeared anonymously on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme in a bid to trace her attacker. At the time, she said she thought she was going to die.

Police said Newton, who has a partner and four children, was known to have left his home on Friday evening. His 4x4 vehicle was seen on the M5 heading to Cornwall.

He is described as 5ft 6ins, with a ruddy complexion, no top teeth and a beer belly.

Detective Superintendent Thompson, said: “We know that David Newton is a regular holidaymaker in the St Ives and Helston areas and he often stays at campsites in those areas. He also fishes along the coast.

“Anyone who sees David Newton is asked not to approach him but to call 999 immediately.”

Anyone with any other information which may lead to his arrest or who saw his vehicle since Friday morning should contact West Yorkshire Police on 0800318001.