A MAN who claimed he was raped at a village picnic site has admitted he made it up.

Police said the 32-year-old Hyndburn man came up with the shocking story as an excuse for missing a court-ordered appointment for drugs rehabilitation.

Rather than face court for his failure to attend the session, he claimed he had been bundled into a car in Burnley Road, Accrington, in early February after two Asian men brandished a syringe at him.

The man told officers he was driven to the picnic site off Simonstone Lane, Simonstone, on a Wednesday lunchtime and raped by one of the men.

Hours of police time were wasted investigating his claims. He was interviewed at length over a couple of days and detectives conducted inquiries such as viewing CCTV footage.

As officers looked into his claims, they uncovered inconsistencies such as his absence on CCTV footage in places where he said he had been.

Police then confronted him with the information and he admitted he had lied.

Det Sgt Joanne Lightbown said: "He said he had made up the allegation to avoid the repercussions of not attending an appointment for drugs rehab." Det Sgt Lightbown said the man had not been fined or cautioned for wasting police time as he had been very apologetic.

She added: "He showed sufficient remorse and admitted that what he had done was wrong.

"He said he wanted to get back on the straight and narrow and, bearing in mind his personal circumstances, there was not sufficient to proceed with wasting police time.

"Whilst we want to ensure genuine cases are singled out so we can use services to the best of our ability, people should be warned not to waste police time."