A 17-year-old girl was telling police last night how she was kidnapped and repeatedly raped.

She told officers: "I never thought this could happen."

The victim, shocked and traumatised by her six-hour ordeal, was being interviewed at a police safe house in north Sussex.

She was abducted outside a seafront nightclub in Brighton in the early hours of New Year's Day and bundled into a car.

The victim was raped several times by one of three men as their red, two-door, car was driven towards Eastbourne.

The girl was later dropped off in Hove, close to where she was staying with a friend. Police were called and detectives are trying to trace the offenders.

Detective Sergeant Pete Smith said: "The victim is deeply upset and traumatised by her ordeal and we are anxious to trace witnesses."

The girl said she met her attacker in a nightclub on Brighton seafront where she was enjoying New Year's Eve celebrations.

It was as she left the club, at 2.30am, that she was forced into the car.

The vehicle broke down at East Dean, near Eastbourne, close to where a tow-truck driver was assisting a stranded motorist.

The driver helped repair the offenders' car before they turned round and headed towards Hove.

The victim was allowed out in Western Road, near Waterloo Street, Hove, at 9am.

The rapist was black, 5ft 7in, stocky, with a shaven head. He wore a red jumper carrying the letters FUBV in red with a white border and a red and white-dotted bandanna on his head.

Police want the tow-truck driver and the stranded motorist to come forward.

Anyone who saw the kidnap, the vehicle, or the girl getting out of the car, should call Mr Smith at Brighton CID on 0845 6070999.