POLICE are investigating a report of rape close to the city centre.
Stay together on a night out and never get into an unknown car without checking it is a licensed taxi first.
It happened between midnight and 2am on Saturday 15 February 2014 when a 43-year-old woman, who had been out with friends in the Canal Street area of Manchester, left to go home.
The woman started to make her way to a taxi rank on Canal Street when a maroon coloured car pulled up alongside her not far from Bar Pop.
The driver of the car intimated that he was a taxi driver so she got in.
A short while later, the car stopped in a car park on Norton Street, Salford. The man pulled the woman from the back of the car and raped her.
The man is described as black with short dark curly hair. He is described as having a tattoo on his hand and discolouration to his cheek.
Police are appealing for information and witnesses.
Detective Inspector Debbie Oakes from the Serious Sexual Offences Unit said: “We are offering support to this woman after her ordeal and have launched an investigation into what happened.
“We do not know the exact time the woman left her friends and got into the maroon coloured car but we estimate that it would have been between midnight and 2am.
“We are asking anyone who was out in the Canal Street area of Manchester on Friday night into the early hours of Saturday morning to think back. Do you remember seeing a maroon coloured car in the area? Do you know who may have been driving that car?
“We will have an increased police presence in the city centre, particularly around Canal Street but we would remind people to use licensed taxi companies by either pre-booking or going to a designated taxi rank.
“Stay together on a night out and never get into an unknown car without checking it is a licensed taxi first. If unsure, go to a taxi rank particularly if you are on your own.”
Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 6580 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
