A German father is being hailed as a hero by police after rescuing his daughter from a refugee rapist and then turning the suspect in.

The 57-year-old man raced to the crime scene in the town of Kleve after his daughter telephoned him to say; 'There's a man following me home dad.....'

When he got there the man had punched his daughter almost unconscious, was on top of her and tearing at her clothes after dragging her from the side of the road into undergrowth.

Her dad, who arrived at the scene on a push-scooter, leaped off screaming, hauled the drunken attacker off his daughter and punched him several times.

Police officers survey the area in front of the main train station and the Cathedral in Cologne, , where dozens of apparently coordinated sexual assaults were perpetred against women on New Year's Eve last year - many of the suspects were asylum seekers

He then held him down with his body while calling police and an ambulance on his mobile phone.

A patrol car raced to the scene and took the 'heavily intoxicated' Syrian into custody. He is facing charges of assault and attempted sexual assault.

The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment but later released.

Crowds of people gather outside Cologne Main Station in Cologne, Germany, 31 December 2015, when dozens of women were sexually assaulted

The 23-year-old had been to a disco with friends the previous evening, could not find a cab at 5.30am on sunday morning to get home so began the two mile walk to the house she lives in with her parents.

The girl called her father when she began crossing from side to side of the road, each time her would-be attacker trailing her.

Her attacker, 23, is understood to live in an asylum seekers' home in Kleve.