Suspected rapist Cheng He.

A suspected rapist is thought to be hiding in a Chinese community somewhere in the UK, Essex Police have said.

People across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge are being urged to look out for 37-year-old Cheng He, who Essex Police suspect of committing a rape above a Chinese takeaway in Essex.

In the early hours of Tuesday, April 24, a 32-year-old Chinese woman was sexually assaulted in a flat above the Happy Garden Chinese Takeaway on Warley Hill, near Brentwood.

Detectives in Essex have sent this appeal and picture to every police force in the UK as they try to trace Cheng He, of no fixed address.

Investigating officer, Det Con Nigel Garwood, said: “The language barrier between ourselves and the victim has led to this investigation being drawn-out, but we have now got somewhere.

“We have a suspect and we need people to help us arrest him so that we can put the allegations made against him to him. We would ask people to look closely at his picture and his name and contact us with his whereabouts.”

Anyone with information in connection with the rape is urged to contact detectives at Brentwood’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.