A SERIAL rapist from the North-East has been questioned by detectives about an attack 23 years ago.

Antoni Imiela was taken from his prison cell to a police station this week for questioning about the case.

The 55-year-old, who grew up in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, is one of Britain’s most notorious serial rapists.

He is serving seven life sentences after he was convicted in March 2004 of violent rapes on girls and women aged ten to 52.

Known as the M25 rapist, his campaign of terror in 2001 and 2002 spanned Kent, Surrey, West London and Hertfordshire.

Detectives investigating an attack on a woman in her 20s in south-east London in 1987 have begun questioning him.

His arrest comes as hundreds of unsolved cases are being reviewed by forensic experts using modern techniques, including DNA tests.

On Tuesday, he was taken from Wakefield Prison, in West Yorkshire, to be interviewed at a police station in Leeds.

It is understood any prosecution will be based on interviews with the victim at the time of the attack because she has since died. The case has been handed to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will decide whether to charge Imiela.

The former railway worker began his criminal career with violent armed robberies in the North-East.

In February 1987, he burst into a post office in Darlington brandishing a sawn-off shotgun and threatened to “blow the heads off” two women.

He also raided a post office in West Cornforth, County Durham, another in his home town and a building society in Shildon, County Durham.

During the 2004 trial, the media dubbed him the Trophy Rapist because of his habit of stealing items of clothing from his victims.

The police investigation to catch him cost £2m and involved six police forces. It was the biggest manhunt since the Yorkshire Ripper was caught.

Imiela received seven life sentences after he was convicted of seven rapes and the kidnap, indecent assault and attempted rape of a ten-year-old girl.