Drivers questioned in rapist hunt

Police have described the daylight attack as totally unprovoked

Police have been stopping cars as part of an operation to find witnesses after a woman was brutally raped in Fife.

The victim was attacked by three men in a disused quarry at Orebridge near Thornton on Hogmanay.

Detectives from Fife Constabulary said the assault was totally unprovoked. They have been trying to trace the men, who were all aged between 20 and 30.

An incident bus has been set up close to the scene and officers have been trying to jog the memories of drivers.

Witnesses needed

Detailed descriptions have been issued of the three men involved in the attack. The first is 5ft 10in, slim and with collar-length mousey hair.

The second attacker was about 5ft 5in with short hair and dark bushy eyebrows, while the third man was about 20 years old and had a dark coloured mountain bike.

The first two men spoke with local accents.

Det Ch Insp Stephen Malcolm said: "The persons responsible for this brutal attack must be traced as a matter of urgency. Anyone with information that may assist the police enquiry are urged to contact the police."

Officers have been stopping vehicles at the Redhouse roundabout, close to where the assault took place.

House-to-house inquiries have also been carried out in the village of Thornton.

Anybody who was walking or driving through the area on Hogmanay afternoon or who caught a train at Thornton railway station has been urged to contact the police.