A WOMAN who cried rape has been forced to cough up £80 after police found she was lying.

The 18-year-old contacted police saying she had been raped in Morecambe on February 9 - but officers who probed the claim found it to be untrue.

The woman later admitted she had told lies and was issued with an £80 fixed penalty notice for wasting police time.

DI Neil Esseen, from Morecambe, says it is an offence that causes police great concern.

"Rape is a horrendous ordeal for any person and police treat any allegation seriously. We fully encourage victims to come forward in the knowledge that they will be treated sensitively. Occasionally, however, our enquiries reveal the allegations are completely false.

"Serious incidents such as rape enquiries require a large input of staff and resources, diverted away from everyday policing duties. When a false allegation is made it means these resources have been wasted."

He adds: "This is unfair to the public we serve, unfair to true victims of this offence and is not a situation we can tolerate."

The Citizen asked police to name the woman who made the false allegation. Lancashire Constabulary declined