THREE men aged in their 40s have been charged over the rape of a 13-year-old girl.

At Bolton Magistrates’ Court two of the men appeared before justices accused of a series of offences against the girl in 2006.

Nasar Ahmed, aged 41, of The Pungle, Westhoughton, is accused of two counts of raping the girl, possessing a shotgun and falsely imprisoning the child.

Majid Altaf, aged 41, of Kingsland Avenue, Farnworth, has been charged with six counts of raping the same girl and arranging or facilitating sexual activity with a child.

Both men spoke only to confirm their ages and addresses and no pleas were indicated.

Magistrates remanded the men on bail to appear again before a judge at Bolton Crown Court on December 23.

A third man, Shahzad Khan, aged 43, of First Avenue, Little Lever, is due to appear before magistrates tomorrow, Thursday, accused of a single count of raping the same girl.

All three men have bail on condition that each lives at his home address.

They must have no contact with the victim and surrender any travel documents and passports.

They must have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.