A NORTH-EAST woman who falsely claimed that she had been raped will not face prosecution.

The 21-year-old told police that she had been held down by one man and assaulted by another in an alley in Askrigg Street, Darlington, after a night out in May.

Her allegation sparked a major police investigation that cost thousands of pounds and hundreds of man hours.

She later withdrew her claim to have been the victim of any kind of sexual attack and she was told that she faced prosecution for wasting police time.

Detectives, who worked on the case, sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration, but last night it was revealed that she will not be taken to court over the false allegation.

A police spokesman said: "After extensive consultation and discussions between police and the Crown Prosecution Service it has now been decided that the public interest would not be best served by pursuing the original claim."

The woman's account led police to set up an incident room from where they co-ordinated a full-scale investigation, the cost of which is believed to have run into five figures.

Officers produced an e-fit of the suspected rapist and distributed hundreds of leaflets around the town that were displayed in businesses and pub windows.

Hours of security camera film footage, some of which recorded the victim's movements after leaving the town's Club 2K nightclub, were also studied.

Police also tried to find an old school friend of the 'victim', who she supposedly met in the town centre before to the alleged attack.