A JURY has failed to reach a verdict in the case of a boy accused of raping a teenager in Morecambe.

The 16-year-old, from Morecambe, was alleged to have forced the girl to have sex on a mattress in the back of transit van after she and a friend accepted a lift.

The boy, who can't be named for legal reasons, denied raping the 18-year-old and claimed that she consented to sex.

After failing to reach a verdict after more than six hours, judge Peter Smith discharged the jury, and freed the boy on conditional bail.

Another hearing later this month will decide whether he is to face a re-trial.

The boy was cleared of another allegation that he indecently assaulted the girl's 16-year-old friend.

The jury at Preston Crown Court has been told that the two girls, from Wigan, visited the court for a night out last September.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.