A MAN has been charged with raping a young woman in York city centre.

Simon John Glen, 43, of Glen Avenue, Heworth, was due to appear before York magistrates this morning, charged with one count of rape and two counts of serious sexual assault.

He is accused of attacking a 24-year-old woman in the Micklegate area of the city at about 10.45pm on Friday, February 24.

She claims she was walking along Trinity Lane when she was grabbed, threatened with violence and forced her into a nearby alleyway, where she was raped and sexually assaulted twice.

Last Friday, the Evening Press printed off flyers and posters appealing for information about the attack, which were handed out to late night revellers by police at Ousegate Bridge, North Street gardens and the junction of Trinity Lane and Micklegate.

The appeal was part of the Operation Crake investigation launched to catch the alleged attacker.

Police ploughed extra resources into policing the Micklegate area, and warned women to be careful, especially at night, and not walk home alone.

Officers were inundated with calls after we printed an e-fit of the alleged rapist on our front page.

Another woman was sexually assaulted in the Micklegate area at about midnight on the same night, but police have not charged anyone in relation to that attack.

The victim was walking over Ouse Bridge towards Micklegate when she was accosted in the street by a man who tried to engage her in conversation.

He grabbed her arms and led her down an alleyway at the side of to Argos, before forcing her down a path to the Riverside public garden next to North Street and sexually assaulting her.

She managed to fight him off and he fled.

Updated: 10:03 Monday, March 13, 2006