A black cab driver found guilty of raping a Putney lesbian could have attacked more than 100 women in a seven-year reign of terror.

John Worboys, 51, from Rotherhithe, south east London, was charged with attacking 14 women following a seven-week trial at Croydon Crown Court which ended on Friday.

He is due to be sentenced on April 21 at Croydon Crown Court.

However, police said 85 women in total had made complaints against Worboys during the investigation.

It also emerged Worboys was arrested for a sexual attack on a Greenwich student in 2007 after CCTV footage of his cab linked him to the crime, but he was released without charge allowing him to attack at least five more women before he was finally caught in February last year.

Officers assigned to that case have been reported to the police watchdog.

But police believe there could be as many as 100 victims out there who may not be able to remember what happened to them or are perhaps too embarrassed or ashamed to come forward.

Detective Inspector David Reid, who headed the investigation, said Worboys victims stretched as far as Dorset - where the retired male stripper had a studio which he used to make porn films - and admitted police could not say how long he had been an attacker for.

The majority of the women came forward after a police appeal in February 2008, but four more women have contacted police since Worboys trial began in January this year.

Earlier reports date back to 2002 but police say they cannot be sure it was him as the attacks were not carried out in the same way.

However, they admit he could have been perfecting his technique and could not rule him out as their attacker.

The sexual predator - who had no previous convictions - targeted young, professional women who were walking alone in the central London area.

He would approach them himself, rather than waiting to be hailed, and offer them cut-price fares to lure them into his cab.

Once they were inside, he would give them his “banter” as he called it - telling them false information about himself to start up conversation - before flashing them a wad of cash and asking him to celebrate saying he had won it on the lottery or in a casino.

He then offered them alcoholic drinks spiked with sedatives before climbing in the back of the cab to sexually assault them.

In his defence, Worboys claimed he never did anything the women did not want him to and said he craved female attention since the death of his mother to cancer when he was 13.

After the verdict, Detective Inspector David Reid said: “Worboys took advantage of his position of trust. He used it to entice women into his cab where he subjected them to a terrifying ordeal.

“Some of them can recall everything. Some suffered a frightening loss of memory which has left many questioning what happened to them.

“Many of the women believed they themselves were responsible for what happened and were embarrassed they accepted a drink from him.

“What they did in reporting it to the police was not easy and I do not underestimate what they have had to endure, but it is their determination and testimony has been entirely necessary to bring this man to justice.”

• If you think you may have been a victim of Worboys or want to report a rape call police on 0800 121 4441.