Shoppers have spoken of their fear and disbelief after a woman was allegedly raped by a man near to Salford’s Regent retail park. Earlier today (October 30), Costa Coffee was cordoned off by police as an investigation into the alleged rape took place.
Forensic officers were spotted on the scene as the outside seating area of the coffee shop, located near to JD Sports and Sainsburys, was taped off.
A 25-year-old man has since been arrested and is being questioned by police, following the alleged attack at 7.55am this morning.
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Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, shoppers, local residents and workers in the area have told of their shock.
One woman, who lives near Old Trafford, said: “I can’t believe it, it’s a bit worrying. You don’t expect that sort of thing to happen here, not in a built up area like this where there are cameras and security everywhere.
“At that time in the morning as well - the clocks have gone back so it’s lighter in the morning, and there would have been more people here as well because of the gym.
“It’s scary.”
A member of staff at Home Bargains said she arrived at work at around 1.30pm to find the area around Costa taped off by police. “I got a call to say somebody had been attacked, but now we’ve heard that somebody was allegedly raped. It’s awful.”
A woman who had been shopping in the retail park throughout the day added: “I had no idea what happened, it was all taped off and the police were here. You don’t expect something like this here.”
And two workers at Sainsburys, who wished to remain anonymous, said they believed there had been a stabbing, but were shocked to learn that a woman had allegedly been raped.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "We were called at around 7.55am today (Sunday) to a reported rape of a woman in her 20s near to Regent retail park off Regent Road, Salford. Officers attended and a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of rape.
"He remains in custody. The victim is being supported by specialist officers while detectives from our Swinton CID continue to investigate.
"At this stage it's believed the victim and the suspect were known to each other prior to the incident."
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident 1087 of October 30 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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