A MAN suspected of raping a woman in her 20s as she made her way home from a night out has handed himself in.

The 24-year-old from Padiham was arrested on suspicion of rape after turning up at a local police station at around 10am today.

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Detective Inspector Vinny De Curtis said the suspect had learned officers were looking for him in connection with the attack.

He was being quizzed today by detectives investigating the rape near to a footbridge, at around 2am on Monday.

Specialist crime scene investigators later cordoned off the bridge over Green Brook, at the back of Inglewaite Fold, to search for evidence.

The bridge links Palmerston Street to Thompson Street, via Inglewaite Fold, and is often used as a shortcut.

A worker at an industrial unit close to the scene said: “The police were here at 5am when we arrived. Crime scene investigators were there, as well as two or three police cars.

“They had the bridge sealed off .”

The bridge links Palmerston Street to Thompson Street, via Inglewaite Fold, and is often used as a shortcut.

It is just yards from another footbridge where an eight-year-old girl was sexually assaulted last year.

Dog walker Freida Archer, 62, said: “I walk over the bridge every day. Hearing about this will make me think twice about coming when it’s dark until the police have caught whoever did this.

“What a horrible thing to have happened. I just hope the poor woman recovers quickly.”

A resident in near by Palmerston Street said: “To be honest, I’m really shocked. This is not a bad street to live on, and some really nice families have moved in.

“It’s worrying to think something like this can happen right on your doorstep.”