Girl is cautioned over rape claim

A 13-year-old girl is to be cautioned for wasting police time following an investigation into an alleged rape.

The girl had spent Saturday evening in a Middlesbrough bar and said an attack had taken place in a doorway outside.

A 23-year-old man voluntarily attended South Bank police office on Tuesday and gave his version of events.

A police spokesman said on Wednesday that following this, officers had spoken to the girl again and she admitted making a false allegation.

A police spokesman said incidents of this nature raise the fear of crime.

He said: "This is a malicious allegation against a member of the public which diverted a wide range of police resources into investigating an incident which simply did not happen.

"This was not only a costly exercise for us, but it blighted the name of this area.

"The widespread publicity generated by this fictitious allegation paints a bad image of the town which is totally unjustified."