Rape case detectives were today sifting through new information after setting up a road block to quiz potential witnesses.

Officers stopped 170 cars in the Felmores area of Basildon exactly a week after a 16-year-old girl was brutally attacked.

The teenager was dragged into a copse close to Malyons Green and forced into shrubbery by a man earlier seen with two pals.

The friends are believed to have waited close by while the man raped the girl in a ten-minute attack.

The trio then followed the terrified youngster as far as Holgate as she made her escape through dark alleyways.

Police stopped cars in the early hours of the morning at the junction of Felmores and Loxford and near the shopping parade.

They also questioned 20 passers by at Felmores' junction with Malyons in the hope they might be able to recall some detail, no matter how tiny, which could lead them to the rapist. A police spokesman said the operation was successful.

She added: "We are pleased with the co-operation received from members of the public and we will be following up the information."

A team of detectives are working on the case - and an indecent assault on an 18-year-old which happened just days later on the same estate - from a special incident room at Pitsea police station.

They are still appealing for anyone who saw the three men or the girl in the Felmores area at around 12.30am on Saturday, July 17 to come forward. They are particularly interested in hearing from residents who may have seen or heard anything.

The rapist is believe to be white, aged between 18 and his early 20s and 5ft 7ins with cropped blond hair. He wore a blue Nike T-Shirt with a tick logo on the front.

Any information to 01268 584017 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

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