A 16-year-old girl told a court via a recorded video interview that a doctor sexually assaulted her as she lay in a hospital bed.

Dr Naveen Shivan, who was an ENT doctor in the former Blackburn Royal Infirmary, has gone on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of sexual assault, a charge he denies.

Miss Jane Dagnall, prosecuting, has told the court that the girl, who had been admitted with acute tonsillitis, woke during the night when she felt cold hands on her belly.

Shivan then allegedly indecently assaulted her, as well as pressing his lips to the side of her neck, the court heard.

When later questioned by police about events at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, Shivan, 35, of Infirmary Close, Blackburn, told officers he had performed a medical examination out of "caring curiosity", to check the girl was not suffering from glandular fever, the court was told.

But the girl, in a police interview that was taped and played to the court, said: "I remember this cold hand on my belly button.

"I woke up and he didn't say anything. He was perched on the side of the bed.

"I thought he must be checking to see if I am dehydrated and I just laid there."

The court heard she thought it strange that he had not introduced himself.

She said he pressed her chest area and went underneath her bra.

The girl added: "He had his lips on my neck. He was pressing on my neck. I didn't know what to do."

The girl went on to tell the officer that she was indecently touched until the woman in the opposite bed awoke.