A COMMUNITY is in shock after a woman was raped at a village cemetery in broad daylight.

Police say the victim – a woman in her thirties – was approached by a man in Jackson Road, Clacton, on Sunday.

She was taken to a car where two other men were waiting.

They drove her to St Osyth cemetery, on Clay Lane, about four miles away, where she was raped by one of the men.

Police said the others were not present at the time of the incident, which happened between 3pm and 4pm.

District and parish councillor John White said he was “horrified” to hear about the attack. Mr White said: “There must have been people around at that time.

“It is really frightening this sort of thing can happen and nobody spotted it.

“There would have been a lot of people that end up in the cemetery on a Sunday afternoon to visit their passed relatives.

“All I can say is that the parish council is horrified as they own the cemetery.

“We hear about these things, but you don’t expect it to happen in your area.

“We’re in the quiet part of Tendring.

“It’s a shock to all of us as the cemetery is a very well run place.

“It’s such a nasty thing to have happened.”

Fellow councillor Michael Talbot added: “I think it’s disgraceful – I’m really upset about it.”

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Officers believe it was an isolated incident and said residents would see an increase in police patrols.

Specially-trained officers are continuing to support the victim and forensic examination work is being carried out at the cemetery.

Det Insp Greg Wood, of Essex Police’s public protection investigation unit, said: “We are continuing to make extensive enquiries into this serious offence, including house-to-house enquiries and reviewing CCTV footage.

“We are treating this as an isolated incident, but we understand the community will be concerned and we have increased our patrols in Jackson Road and the Clay Lane areas as a result.”

He urged anyone with information, or who was in the vicinity between 2.30pm and 5pm to come forward.

Police also want anyone with dashcam footage or CCTV to contact the adult sexual assault investigation team on 101 quoting incident 731 of January 15.

People can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.