Forty police officers and support staff have been called in to hunt for the man who raped a Nuneaton teenager at knifepoint on Friday.

And they are appealing for anyone who has recently lost a cook’s knife to come forward as they might be able to help trace the attacker.

The 18-year-old was set upon after being approached by a man in Weddington Fields near the railway line at about 5.30pm.

She walked from Jodrell Street over the iron bridge which runs over the railway line.

She started to walk towards a disused piece of land to try and reach the playing fields beyond the main Nuneaton to Birmingham line.

It was here that she first became aware of the man nearby.

She asked a group of children and asked them if she could get through to the playing fields, but they told her there was no way through.

She went back towards the iron bridge, but instead going back over it she turned right onto the main footpath.

As she got close to a group of youths playing on a disused piece of land, she noticed the man she saw earlier.

He was standing near to a gate that leads up an embankment and asked her if she would help him find a puppy he had lost as he was worried it would go onto the railway line.

She agreed, and as she was lifting her dog over the gate to look for the puppy a man riding a bike told her that the gate was open, so she should just go through.

After the man on the bike rode away, the teenager went up the embankment and was grabbed by the man, who threatened her with a knife and attacked her.

During the attack at least one train passed by. When the ordeal was over the man left and the woman ran to a nearby friend’s house and called the police.

The attacker is white, with very short, almost shaved dark brown hair. He was clean-shaven but with a little dark stubble showing.

He has a big nose pock-marked face, 5ft 10ins and is stockily-built.

He looked scruffy and was wearing a burnt orange woollen knitted crew-necked long-sleeved jumper, a red-checked, collared open-neck shirt and dark trousers.

Officers have been scouring the area of the attack looking for clues, and any discoveries are being examined by forensic experts.

The knife which was used is described as around eight inches long, with a black handle three to four inches.

House-to-house enquiries are continuing in the area, and officers are trying to find people who were around the scene of the crime at the time of the incident, including children playing.

They are particularly keen to trace the man riding the bike, who spoke to the teenager before she went to try and find the puppy.

He was aged between 35 and 40, with light blond hair, which is receding. He was wearing a green long-sleeved luminous waterproof jacket.

Police want to speak to this man as it is likely that he saw the offender.

Officers are also keen to speak to a man who was possibly walking behind the woman after the attack.

He was coming from the fields along the footpath, towards the iron bridge, and might have seen the offender after the attack.

He is white, with a ruddy complexion, 5ft 9ins, muscular build with short dark hair. He is in his late 20s or early 30s, and had knee-length dark coloured shorts on and a long-sleeved dark-coloured casual top.

He was walking an average-sized dog with smooth golden brown hair.