DETECTIVES investigating the rape of a young woman are appealing to the public for help.

The assault took place on Friday as the 19-year-old victim started to make her way home after a night out in Crook town centre, County Durham.

Shortly before midnight, the woman was in the Market Place when she was approached by a man of a similar age who asked her for the time.

He struck up a conservation with her and offered to walk her home, saying he knew a short cut.

The pair were walking through a wooded area, between the skateboard park and the Watergate Estate, between 11.45pm and 12.30am, when the man turned on the woman and forced her to the ground.

Police said he then attacked and raped her and left her to make her way home where she reported the incident.

Detective Chief Inspector Ted Edgar said: "This was a horrific attack which, as you would expect, has left the victim in a very distressed state.

"We urgently need to speak to anyone who might have seen this man talking to a teenage girl in the Market Place area late on Friday night."

The man is described as 5ft 11in to 6ft, with short, mousey, brown hair and a distinctive mole on his left cheek.

He wore a light coloured shirt with blue checks or stripes, black dress trousers and black slip-on shoes.

On Saturday afternoon a local 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of rape and questioned.

He has since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crook CID on (01388) 762011.