The victim has been left shaken by the ordeal, which occurred next to the Bungambrawatha Creek near Albury High School on Saturday.

The man approached the 21-year-old woman about 4.30pm and stood about 30 centimetres in front of her, refusing to let her pass.

They spoke briefly before the man indecently assaulted her.

She broke free and contacted police.

Police don’t believe the matter is linked to incidents at nearby JC King Park on David Street on June 7 or Oddies Creek Playground on June 8.

Police charged a man with performing a lewd act after those incidents.

Detective Inspector Woodward said people should be able to move around freely without fear of such incidents occurring, and urged anyone with information to contact police.

“We’d like to stress to the community, please don’t panic, be aware of your surroundings and any suspicious behaviour,” he said.

“Contact Albury police or Crime Stoppers if you’re aware of this person’s identity.”

Mayor Kevin Mack said the path probably didn’t meet the principles of preventing crime through environmental design.

“It’s a narrow corridor with houses and backyards abutting it,” he said. 

“We probably need to look at it, but we’re confident there are other ways for people to walk to their locations. 

“It was designed 20 or 30 years ago when crime prevention through environmental design wasn’t even thought of.

“I just hope people are able to identify the assailant.”