A grieving woman was reportedly raped in a graveyard after her attacker had sat next to her on a bench.

Police are hunting a man who attacked a 55-year-old woman near St Andrew's Church in Hove, East Sussex, England on Halloween between 5.30 and 6pm.

Officers described the suspect as a white man in his 40s, 5ft 6 inch tall, of average build, with short grey hair and wearing jeans.

Police say they had not been able to carry out a detailed interview with the woman.

The officers say the woman was too "distraught and vulnerable" to talk about the attack, but she was being supported by specially trained officers.

Detective Inspector Vickie Maroki, of Brighton's Safeguarding Investigations Unit, said: "We believe this to be an isolated incident but clearly we want to find out more as soon as we can."