A WESTBURY woman who says she was raped by a man in a flat in Trowbridge has lost her faith in British justice after the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to bring charges.

The 30-year-old office worker, who lives in a flat with her partner, spent five hours undergoing tests and questioning in a rape suite in Swindon after the attack in June.

She says police told her they had a good case against the man who they arrested soon after she dialled 999 – just minutes after she awoke to find herself naked from the waist down and a man standing over her.

But last week she received a letter from the CPS telling her it would be taking no further action as it was her word against his.

The man, who was a loose acquaintance, admitted to police he had sex with the woman but claimed it was consensual.

She said: "There have been times when I haven't wanted to exist anymore. But my partner and friends have been amazing and I couldn't thank them enough.

"It would be very easy for my life to be completely ruined by this but I refuse to let him defeat me. I thought I did everything the police advise you to do in these situations. I rang 999 immediately. I didn't wash and I didn't change my clothes.

"I spent hours in The Sanctuary rape suite. They took all my clothes and I had to undergo lots of tests for things like HIV and I also had to take the morning after pill.

"Luckily all of the tests came back negative and they were very kind and considerate there but it was all a very difficult ordeal."

She also had the difficult task of telling her partner about what had happened.

"He has been amazing," she said. "He was very angry with my attacker but he is not the sort of person to do anything stupid. He has been totally supportive of me."

She said her ordeal started after she met a male friend for lunch in a Trowbridge pub. They were joined by another man who her friend knew.

They had a few drinks during the afternoon and then went back to her friend's bedsit in Trowbridge.

She said: "We had a few more drinks and then my friend said he was going to have a shower. I was feeling tired so thought I would just close my eyes while he was getting ready to go out again. The man was in the same room as me but I didn't feel any worries about him.

"I must have fallen asleep and then I woke up to find all my lower clothes were down. He was standing close to me. I screamed and ran to the bathroom. My friend knew immediately that something terrible had happened and asked if I had been raped.

"I hid in the shower because the man was banging on the door saying he needed to speak to me. There was so much commotion the neighbour below came up to see what was going on."

The alleged rapist then ran out of the flat.

The letter from a CPS solicitor said that it was not proceeding with the case because there was not a good chance of a conviction as the woman did not have a good recall of what had happened and she would be questioned on this in the witness box.

A CPS spokesman said this week that she had the right to appeal against this decision. But the woman said she could not face prolonging the situation as she did not think the CPS would change its mind and she wanted to try to get on with her life.

The spokesman said: "An allegation of rape was made against a 24-year-old. Following a careful review of all the available evidence we took the decision that there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against the individual.

"We have informed the complainant. We fully understand how our decision can be upsetting for her and we offered to meet with her to explain our decision with her further should she wish to do so. We have also explained that our decision can be reviewed under the CPS Victims Right to Review Scheme.”

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: "Wiltshire Police take any sexual offence seriously and will always act rapidly and robustly when such incidents are reported to us.

"We always work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to try and secure a prosecution and hopefully a conviction.

"We know that any incident of rape or sexual assault has a massive impact on the victim and therefore our specially trained officers will always offer full support to anyone who has been abused in this way.

"We encourage anyone who believes they have been raped or sexually assaulted to contact us. We promise you will be dealt with sensitively by one of our highly trained officers and can assure you that any information you give will be treated in the utmost confidence and will be followed up. We are determined to catch anyone who carries out such crimes.

"Anyone wishing to contact us can do so by calling 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."