POLICE are hunting a man who raped a schoolgirl. Last night officers were out at the scene of the attack, stopping passers-by in the hope of uncovering a vital clue.

The 16-year-old victim was raped as she walked home from a pub along Stratton Road, near to the Matalan store on the Greenbridge Retail and Leisure Park.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Jennings described it as a horrible attack on someone of a tender age.

The assault took place between 10.30pm and midnight on Sunday July 2.

One week on officers were back at the scene questioning potential witnesses.

Police spent one and a half hours stopping people and asking them if they had seen anything that might help the investigation.

DCI Jennings said: "It's a week since this rape.

"The purpose is to try to capture any witnesses who may have been in the area passing through last week who have maybe seen something but haven't heard about the offence.

"We would appeal to anybody who has any information at all that could help in the detection of this person to come forward, regardless of whether they were in the area.

"It may be they are aware of some information given the description.

"We don't know which direction he came from or left in but it may be that someone leaving the cinema at Greenbridge walked past the man before or after the incident."

The victim is being given counselling and has been trying to help police identify her attacker.

The man approached the girl from behind before dragging her into a hedge and carrying out the assault.

DCI Jennings said: "She is a very young victim who is extremely traumatised as a result of the attack.

"She is being supported through it by the police and other agencies who are trained in counselling.

"She is very, very young and it's a horrible attack to happen to anybody, particularly somebody of such a tender age."

The man is described as black, 5ft 5ins tall and of medium build. He was wearing a dark T-shirt and light blue jeans and had braided hair.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det Sgt Mark Wilkinson of Swindon CID on 0845 408 7000.

Shocked by attack

PASSERS-BY who were stopped by the police last night expressed their shock at the attack.

Martin Gerrish, 40, of Briar Fields, said: "I hadn't heard anything about it.

"I come down here every day to go to work. I am surprised to hear about it.

"It's a pretty well-lit area and I've never heard of anything like that happening here before.

"I work shifts and there's usually quite a few people around too."

Francesco Mazzotta, 41, of Omdurman Street, was on his way to see his brother-in-law.

He said: "It's not very nice to hear about this sort of thing.

"It's not a good thing to happen in Swindon and I was surprised to see the police here.

"I've got young sons, 14 and 16, and it doesn't matter that they are boys, as a parent you don't want to hear about children being attacked."

One man, who works for BMW nearby and lives in Oxford Road, said: "Obviously it's quite close to our home.

"We saw that it was cordoned off on the morning after the attack but my first thought was someone took a short cut and knocked someone over.

"You don't expect it to be something like this."