A 21-YEAR-OLD man from York has been quizzed by detectives investigating the rape of a 16-year-old girl.

York police have arrested a local man and released him on bail without charge pending further investigations after a vulnerable teenage girl was raped when a stranger offered her a lift home from a night out in York.

The 16-year-old victim was subjected to the terrifying ordeal in car park between the Law College and the Knavesmire racecourse.

Police have released an e-fit of the man they are hunting, and they are now warning people to take extra care when going home at night.

The Press reported on Saturday that the victim had left Toffs nightclub, in Toft Green, at 11.36pm on Sunday, May 21 and walked down Toft Green.

She then headed down George Hudson Street towards Micklegate when a man in a car called to her and offered her a lift home.

The car, which police believe was a small silver hatchback saloon, was parked in George Hudson Street, facing in the Micklegate direction.

The girl accepted his offer and got into the car.

Detective Superintendent Lewis Raw, of North Yorkshire Police, said the man then drove the car left at the lights, over Ousegate Bridge, through the city centre and up Bishopthorpe Road.

But instead of taking the girl home he drove to the car park, where he subjected her to "a serious sexual assault".

Anyone with information should phone North Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 247, quoting incident number 1061420010.