A MAN was raped after being driven to woodland by a motorist he thought was a good Samaritan, police have revealed.

The 24-year-old was offered a lift as he walked home along the Oxford Road in the early hours of Sunday morning.

He accepted the lift and waited in the car as the driver got out to buy a drink at the Shell petrol station at the bottom of Norcot Road, Tilehurst.

But when the driver returned to the car he took his passenger to a wooded area and raped him.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said the man was picked up between 3am and 4am as he walked near Battle Hospital on the Oxford Road.

He was taken to the woodland near the Tylers Rest pub by the entrance to the Potteries housing estate.

The spokesman said: "The offender is described as having an Eastern European accent and was aged approximately 35 to 40 years of age.

"He was driving a silver Ford, which was possibly a Fiesta or Focus."

Detective Constable Tim Lloyd: “I would like to appeal to anyone who saw anything suspicious in either Oxford Road or the woodland area near The Potteries at around the time of the offence."