POLICE are hunting a tattooed rapist who brutally attacked a woman in an alleyway in Leigh.

The 19-year-old woman had left Bar-barellas nightclub at 2am on Sunday morning with a man she had befriended in the popular nightspot.

As they walked past Cannings Newsagents on Spinning Jenny Way towards Leigh bus station, she was punched in the face by the man, dragged along Bradshawgate to a secluded alleyway off Union Street where she was raped.

After the attack, the man punched her up to six times in the face where she suffered a broken jaw.

She was taken to Wigan Royal Infirmary and later transferred to Manchester Royal Infirmary.

The woman is recovering in hospital and is being comforted by her parents who are at her bedside.

The attack was so severe that the woman underwent an operation to insert a metal plate into her jaw on Monday and has been left struggling to speak.

Detective Sergeant Gary Ashurst, of Leigh CID, said: "This was an horrendous attack on a young woman who had been enjoying a night out in Leigh.

"She has been left with terrible injuries and is extremely traumatised by her ordeal. It is bad enough for any young woman to go through the ordeal of being raped, but to be assaulted in the way this woman was after the attack is terrible. It is the worst incident I have seen in my career."

Detectives have been sifting through CCTV footage taken at Barbarellas and Spinning Gate Shopping Centre and have questioned two people who were with the girl at the time of the attack.

The woman has helped police with their enquires and provided a description of the man.

Police said the man was "distinctive" with a tattoo on his left shoulder and one of a woman half-smiling, half-frowning on his stomach.

They believe that the man could be local. The attacker is described as white, muscular, aged about 25, with dark, shaven hair. He was wearing a dark blue Ted Baker top and dark-coloured trousers.

DS Ashurst has warned women to be vigilant at night while the man was still at large.

He said: "If anybody is walking home alone at night, try and go in a group or better still get a taxi home. There is always a danger that this man could strike again."

But DS Ashurst said he was confident that they will catch the offender.

He said: "There would have been a number of people walking around Leigh town centre at the time of the attack, as the clubs and pubs shut."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Leigh CID on 0161 856 7252.