A WOMAN was dragged into a notorious park and raped in the early hours of this morning.

The victim, in her 40s, was raped in Salt Hill Park at around 2.30am this morning (Wednesday) after being assaulted by two men.

The woman first noticed the two men beginning to follow her as she walked at the rear of Montem Leisure Centre and towards the A4. They followed her near to the park and approached her near the entrance in Windmill Road.

They pulled her inside the park, one of the men assaulted her and one then raped her. They also stole money from her before leaving.

The woman was assisted by two members of the public who disturbed the offenders and called the emergency services.

Det Insp Stuart Brangwin, from Berkshire Force CID, said: “A team of detectives are investigating this serious incident in which a woman was raped. I would like to appeal to anyone who saw what happened or who has any information which may assist our enquiries to speak to police.

“Any information you have, no matter how insignificant you feel it may be, could be important to the investigation.”

Both men are described as Asian, aged in their mid to late 20s, between 5ft 10ins and 6ft tall and with short black hair. One of the offenders, believed to be the man who raped her, was wearing a dark jacket and dark clothing. The other offender had a beard and a larger stomach.

A scenewatch is in place in the park and it is likely to remain in place for the majority of the day while investigation work is carried out.

Supt Gavin Wong. LPA Commander for Slough, said: “I am aware of the concerns of the community in relation to Salt Hill Park and other open spaces in Slough and we have been working closely with our partners including Slough Borough Council in an attempt to reduce incidents and help people feel safer.

“I was therefore particularly saddened to hear about this incident. Uniformed officers will be carrying out additional patrols in the area and anyone who has any concerns should approach and speak to an officer.

“We will continue to look at further measures we can take with our partners including work through the Safer Slough Partnership to reduce incidents and address the concerns of local residents.”

Cllr Sohail Munawar, leader of Slough Borough Council, said: "We are shocked to hear about this incident and our thoughts are with the victim.

"We get relatively few reports of crimes in our parks considering how much they are used - there were 9.6 million visits last year alone. However, even one incident is an incident too many and we're committed to improving safety in all our parks and open spaces.

"To address concerns about safety in our parks, the council recently passed a motion reaffirming its committment to work with Thames Valley Police on the issue, through the Safer Slough Partnership (SSP).

"As part of that work a new performance group has been set up and the SSP is funding a series of personal safety training sessions for women."

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.