A woman from Frome has been given a fixed penalty notice for wrongly accusing a Warminster man of rape.

The incident happened in an alleyway next to The Old Bell Inn in Market Place, Warminster, at about 3am on Sunday.

Inspector Dave Minty of Warminster and Westbury Police said: “After a thorough investigation utilising the town CCTV a female has been given a fixed penalty notice of £80 for wasting police time.

“She was challenged at an early stage and accepted that the allegation was untrue so we felt a fixed penalty notice was the best cause of action.

“That doesn’t undermine the effect a wrongful allegation has on someone who is wrongly accused of such an offence.”