A teenager who insists she was raped three years ago is reviving her battle for justice after being told the attack did not happen.

Police who investigated the woman's original claims in 1999 believed her story but said there was not enough evidence to press charges.

Now the woman known as Miss A, who was 15 at the time, has taken the brave step of breaking her silence to The Argus, saying she has been left with nowhere else to turn.

MP Des Turner has taken up the case asking why no police statement was taken from the woman's best friend, who was in the room at the time of the attack.

Miss A, now 19, has been stirred back into action after the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, which makes payments to victims of crime, turned down her application saying "on the balance of probabilities" she was not a victim of rape. Sussex Police said the case remained open and any new information could lead to further action.

Miss A told The Argus: "I know exactly what happened to me. They don't. In effect I'm being told I made it all up."

She said the attack took place on January 29, 1999, after her friend invited another friend to her home for a quiet evening watching TV.

She said: "We were sitting there together chatting. I'd drunk a can of Stella Artois and it had been a nice evening. I wasn't drunk by any means. It got late and (the attacker) asked if he could stay over. I wasn't happy about it but I said it was all right.

"We were all lying on mattresses in the lounge. Then he started trying to get close to me. I was saying 'Leave me alone' but he just carried on.

"It led to rape. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't scream or even say anything as it was happening. I was just in shock. Afterwards I just lay on the bed in tears."

Miss A said nothing for seven days. Her friend had slept through the attack, only to be woken by Miss A saying: "No, no ... "

She said: "I couldn't tell anyone, I didn't know what to do. It was only when I was at my cousin's house about a week later that I told her what had happened.

"She told her mum, her mum told my mum and my mother told the police.

"I didn't want to tell them about it because it brought it all back. I felt I'd been so stupid for not doing anything at the time, for not shouting out.

"When we went to the police they didn't seem to take me seriously. They made me talk through everything in detail, more than once, it was just horrible.

"I told them my friend was there at the time and they said they would question her. I think they made one attempt to contact her and then didn't bother again.

"They spoke to (my attacker) and he denied it. After two months I received a letter saying there wasn't enough evidence to press charges.

"I would have gone to court to give evidence but I couldn't bear to be in the same room as him. I realised how much it had affected me.

"I stopped going to school because I couldn't bear to be around people. I haven't taken any exams."

When the Crown Prosecution Service refused to press charges, the woman turned to welfare rights worker Tony Greenstein of the Brighton and Hove Unwaged Advice and Rights Centre.

He advised her to press for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

She said: "I couldn't cope with all the paperwork so my mum took over. I black it out most of the time. It's still really difficult to talk about it even now."

Mr Greenstein said: "The initial police investigation was flawed most crucially in respect of their failure to interview a witness to the attack. The subsequent investigation by the authority was a shambles.

"The decision to refuse any compensation is outrageous. Police who investigated the case told us they had no doubt she was raped.

"The person who was the alleged rapist did not deny having sexual intercourse but he claimed he didn't know her age."

MP Des Turner said: "It looks as though they have got some explaining to do.

"They could have been more active in investigating the initial complaint. The fact there was a witness from whom they didn't take a statement raises some questions."

In a letter sent by the authority on April 2, case officer Claire Laird told Miss A: "The key issue is the evidence and I am afraid there is simply not enough evidence to show, on the balance of probabilities, that you were the victim of rape."

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Cheesman of Sussex Police said Miss A's friend had not been willing to give a statement in the original investigation.

He said: "The offender was arrested and interviewed but there wasn't enough evidence on which to charge him.

"The crime has been filed as undetected. We believe her story but, as the case stands, there is insufficient evidence to bring charges. If we receive new information we will take another look at it."