FOUR men from East Lancashire have been released on bail after answering charges of sexual offences against a girl when she was aged between 12 and 17 at Burnley Crown Court.

Abbas Khan, 58, of Hubie Street, Burnley, is accused of three charges of rape involving the alleged victim and nine charges of indecent assault between the late 90s and early 2000s.

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Ijaz Khan, 46, of Casterton Avenue, also Burnley, is accused of one charge of rape and eight offences of indecent assault, over a similar timeframe.

Nadeem Arif, 37, formerly of Craven Street, Accrington, but now of St James Court, Blackburn, faces one rape charge.

And Javid Raza, 57, of Crosshill Road, Blackburn, is accused of six offences of indecent assault, alleged to have been committed between 1998 and 1999.

No pleas were entered by any of the defendants during the short hearing and they The men were bailed until April 12 by Judge Beverley Lunt, with a provisional trial date identified in September.

Not before the court was Amin Akhtar, 34, an East Lancashire man currently being held at HMP Forest Bank, who is charged with one rape offence. His case has been adjourned to the same date. A sixth man has been on police bail, suspected of rape, in relation to the same inquiry.