Police are investigating claims of a sex attack in a picturesque village.

Officers sealed off parts of Rottingdean and conducted fingertip searches after a woman's screams were heard on The Green, late on Friday night.

The woman, who is said to be in her teens, was believed to have been the victim of a sexual assault.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "Police are investigating an incident involving a distressed female and how she came to be there."

Villagers said such attacks were virtually unheard of and the incident had provoked shock and concern.

One villager, who asked not to be named, said:

"Rottingdean is a lovely little village and this sort of thing is extremely rare. It is worrying."

Rumours about the crime have swept the village.

The Reverend Martin Morgan, vicar of Rottingdean, told parishioners yesterday: "Some of the stories we are hearing are horrendous.

"Whatever has happened, somebody was hurt. Let us hope the whole truth about the incident comes out.

"If the rumours are true it is a very, very sad time for this community."

Dr Brian Dando, the chairman of Saltdean Neighbourhood Watch, which covers Rottingdean, said serious crime was alien to the village.

He said: "It's very uncommon. The biggest problem is vandalism.

"Police tell us when they come to our meetings, twice a year, that crime is falling."

The incident threw the annual village fayre into chaos when organisers arrived on Saturday morning to make final preparations and find police combing the area for clues.

The Rottingdean and Saltdean Lions Club was expecting more than 1,000 people to its event at The Green only hours later.

Members had to move the fayre 200 yards to Hillders Field.

The Lions' Peter Mallinson said: "When I got here at 7.10am I thought it was very kind of the police to have cordoned off the area for us.

"But then I was told we were not allowed on to The Green until the police had combed the area for any evidence.

"The village green is the focal point for the fayre so to have to move it took a lot of work, involving getting power fed further up the village."

The cordon was eventually lifted by 11.30am but too late for the Lions to revert back to The Green.