DETECTIVES have renewed an appeal for taxi drivers to come forward following the rape of a 25-year-old woman.

The victim, from Sedgefield, County Durham, was raped by two men who offered her a lift after she spent a night out in Middlesbrough on April 25.

At least two taxi drivers had refused to take the woman home because she did not have enough money to pay the fare.

A Durham Police spokesman said: "We still haven't heard from the taxi drivers who wouldn't take her, and we would really like to talk to them."

He said a woman called Helen who spent part of the evening with the victim had come forward after media appeals.

"She has been extremely useful and that is one positive step forward," he said. "The response has been and continues to be excellent in terms of the help that members of the public have provided."

The woman was raped by the driver and passenger of a black four-door hatchback after it stopped on the outskirts of Butterwick, near Sedgefield.

Anyone with information which could help detectives is asked to contact Newton Aycliffe CID on (01325) 314401 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.