POLICE believe a man wanted for raping a teenage girl took a bicycle from two Asian youths just minutes before he dragged her into an Oxford park.

Detectives are continuing to appeal for information over the rape of a 19-year-old woman who walking along Between Towns Road She was grabbed and taken to a park behind John Allen Centre and Cleveland Drive, in Cowley, on Saturday at about 8.30pm where she was raped at knifepoint. No weapon has been recovered.

Det Sgt Russell Simpson, of Oxford CID, said: "We are still keen to speak to anyone who was in the park or in Between Towns Road between 8pm and 9pm.

"We would particularly like to speak to two Asian youths who were seen in the park at the time. We are interested in interviewing them purely as witnesses and we believe it may have been their silver bike the attacker was using.

"Also, if anyone has found a knife in the area, it is vital they inform us."

Supt Brendan O'Dowda, police commander for Oxford, added: "We understand that local residents would naturally be concerned about this incident, especially on hearing that it was committed at knifepoint.

"But we want to reassure them that rapes of this kind are extremely rare.

"PCs and PCSOs from the Cowley Neighbourhood Team have stepped up high-visibility patrols in the Between Towns Road area are happy to discuss any worries local people may have."

Police believe after the rape the man took the woman at knifepoint to a cashpoint near to the William Morris Weatherspoons pub on Between Towns Road while he waited nearby. The woman did not go to the cashpoint, but managed to get help from the door staff at the pub and called the police.

The woman describes the man as about 6ft tall, wearing a dark jumper with multicoloured horizontal stripes and a baseball cap. He is aged about 16 or 17 and was riding a silver bicycle.

Anyone with information should contact police on 08458 505505 or speak anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

  • A youth has been arrested on suspicion of rape and robbery and released on bail until Friday.