A LITHUANIAN man has been extradited to face charges in Blackburn over the alleged rape of a teenager.

Lancashire police officers went to the Baltic state to collect Irmantas Jurevicius, 23, who was flown to Britain and appeared before Blackburn magistrates on Saturday charged with rape. He was remanded.

His extradition was ordered after a Lithuanian court decided not to uphold a request to spare him extradition.

The alleged sex attack was carried out in the early hours of New Year's Day in Blackburn.

The 18-year-old girl was said to have met a man in a town centre pub before she was subjected to an ordeal.

Police said the detained man had been in Blackburn to look for work.

A warrant was issued for his arrest and police discovered he had flown from Liverpool Airport to the Latvian capital, Riga.

Detectives then went through the lengthy process of obtaining an international arrest warrant.

Officers, backed by the Crown Prosecution Service, provided evidence to Leeds Crown Court, where the warrant was issued.

That information was passed to authorities in Lithuania where police were ordered to make an arrest three weeks ago.

Three officers from Blackburn travelled overseas on Thursday to bring back the suspect.

He was flown back to the UK on Friday night.

Detective Inspector Paul Withers, of Blackburn CID, said: "The extradition hearing has been carried out in Lithuania, which is a form of charge and means in essence he has been charged with an offence of rape.

"It has taken a lot of work to get this man extradited but and we would like to say that the Lithuanian authorities have been excellent in helping us."