PEOPLE living in a west Suffolk town have told of their shock after a 17-year-old girl was raped in a secluded car park.

Laurence Cawley

PEOPLE living in a west Suffolk town have told of their shock after a 17-year-old girl was raped in a secluded car park.

The girl had been out with friends and left Vita's nightclub in Sudbury some time after 11pm last night.

Inside the nightclub she had danced with a man who later spoke with her outside in North Street.

A police spokeswoman said it was after that the victim was raped beneath fire escape steps close to the toilets in a car park off Gaol Lane.

She pushed the man away before going back to the nightclub at about 1am. She alerted staff to her ordeal and the police were called.

The spokeswoman said: “The investigation is in its early stages - detectives are treating the allegation extremely seriously.”

Today detectives and scenes of crime officers sealed off the scene, which is in a car park recently acquired by Sudbury Town Council.

Sue Brotherwood, town council clerk, was alerted to the incident at 7.30am this morning when the police were spotted there by the council's market manager.

At first she feared one of the council's care takers might have been assaulted but she quickly learned about the rape.

“I am very disturbed to this,” she said. “Especially as it is on our land. It is shocking and I don't recall anything like it happening before in Sudbury.

“It is very shocking and my thoughts go out to the victim.”

She said there was CCTV in the area which might pick up images of the car park.

Most passers-by in Gaol Lane yesterday were unaware of what had happened the previous night.

Pensioner Jane Wilson, who had come into town to go shopping, said she was appalled to learn of the incident. “You just don't expect something like that here do you? It is usually such a quiet town.

“This area is off Gaol Lane and a bit out of the way. At night I imagine it is quite dark in there.”

The victim is being interviewed by detectives today.

Police are appealing for anybody with information, especially those in Vita's nightclub on the night or in the town centre after 11pm, to contact them on 01473 613500.