Woman raped in John Lewis car park in Cheadle

A woman has been raped in the car park of a John Lewis store.

The victim, in her late 20s, was parked up at the store in Cheadle, Cheshire, around 7pm on Friday night when a man opened the car door, dragged her into some bushes and raped her.

The attacker then ran off into the undergrowth in the general direction towards Wilmslow Road nearby.

The victim visited St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Manchester following the attack and reported the incident to Greater Manchester Police on Monday.

The suspect is described as an Asian man, approximately 40 years old, medium build, with black hair, heavily pock-marked and open-pored skin on his face, with a thick black mono-brow, wearing black jogging bottoms.

Detective Inspector Richard Ennis of Greater Manchester Police said: "This young lady has suffered a deeply traumatic ordeal and we have a team of detectives who are working on this case to try and identify the man that did this to her.

"We believe that the area close to where the victim was parked in her car is used as a cut-through between Wilmslow-Handforth by-pass and the junction of Wilmslow Road and Etchells Road and we are appealing for anyone that may have seen a man fitting this description hanging around this area, to please get in touch.

"The description of this attacker is very distinctive, with deep pock-type scars on his face and I am hoping that this may jog someone's memory to call us, so we can find the person responsible and take him off our streets."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police at Stockport on 0161 856 9770 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.