Two sex attackers took it in turns to rape a woman on Hove beach.

The middle-aged victim had been sitting alone on a seafront bench when the attack happened.

A man with an Arabic accent grabbed her and pulled across the promenade east of the King Alfred leisure centre.

He dragged her on to the steep beach and forced her down to the second or third level of shelving so they could not be seen from the prom.

As she was raped a younger man, believed to be a friend of the first, arrived. Detectives say he then raped the woman as the first man kept watch.

After they had gone the victim used her mobile phone to call a friend who alerted the police.

Detective Constable Ian Pollard, of Hove police, said: "This was a very nasty incident and we need to hear from witnesses.

"We know that there was a party in progress on the next section of beach and that there are flats set back from the prom nearby.

"Because the attack took place on a lower level of the beach the sounds of any struggle would have been difficult to hear."

The double rape took place just after 11pm on June 29 but details have not been released until now.

The older man was 5ft 10in tall, of proportionate build and in his late 20s. He wore a distinctive black shirt with an irregular white pattern.

The only description the victim could give of the second man was that he had a younger-sounding voice than the first.

Anyone with information should phone Mr Pollard at Hove CID on 0845 6070999.