DETECTIVES hunting a sex fiend who raped a 17-year-old girl at knifepoint in a Farnworth country park are considering turning to television to help to solve the case.

They are planning to approach producers of BBC's Crimewatch programme in the hope that a televised reconstruction of the rape will help to uncover new clues.

Det Insp Andy Aston, who is leading the hunt for the attacker, said the Crime-fighting programme had proved invaluable in solving many other cases across the country.

He added: "We are confident that the offender is local to the area and that someone out there knows who he is."

The teenager, from Farnworth, was grabbed from behind by a man as she walked her dog in Moses Gate Country Park last month.

She was dragged into undergrowth, then told to remove her clothing, before the man held a 14-inch long Gurkha knife to her throat and raped her.

The knife has a distinctive blade featuring a carved design, a brass hilt and a wooden handle with metal inserts.

It was found by police near the area of woodland where the girl was atacked.

After a 15-minute ordeal, the girl escaped by wading naked across the River Croal before telling a passer-by what had happened.

Detectives say they have had a positive response to a series of public appeals for information and from an e-fit image of the rapist compiled by the victim and printed in the Bolton Evening News.

Det Insp Aston said detectives were also investigating a number of positive calls from the public about the Gurkha knife used by the rapist which was featured in the Bolton Evening News.

He said: "We want to appeal again to anyone who might be able to assist the inquiry to contact us."

Posters appealing for information which carry the e-fit image are on display across Bolton. Anyone with any information about the rape which took place at around 2.30pm on Tuesday, February 25, is asked to contact Farnworth CID on 0161 856 5853 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 11.