A hunt has been launched for a rapist after a 29-year-old woman was attacked as she waited for a taxi.

Cleveland Police say the victim was subjected to a "serious sexual assault'' at the hands of a man who befriended her while she waited.

The chubby faced Asian man started chatting to her and she accompanied him to a house in Clarendon Road, behind Borough Road, where she had been standing, waiting.

Detective Sergeant Colin Galloway said the rape had had a "devastating'' effect on the woman.

Detective Constable Andy Ainsley said: "She was stuck in the town and he befriended her. He seemed a genuine type of bloke. But sometimes you put your faith in the wrong type of people.''

The crime occurred some time after 1am on Tuesday November 26, but police appealed to the public for help only yesterday after following up a "number'' of lines of inquiry.

The rapist is about 30 years old and about five feet, eleven inches tall. He wore a denim coat and dark jeans.