A 49-YEAR-OLD man indecently assaulted a 17-year-old Clitheroe shop assistant after telling her she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

But Blackburn magistrates were told that their sentencing options were limited because Gerard Joseph Regan had recently been sentenced at Preston Crown Court to nine months in prison for an indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl.

Regan, 49, of Peel Street, Clitheroe, had been convicted at a previous hearing of indecent assault and the sentencing bench imposed a conditional discharge for two years.

David Macro, prosecuting, said the girl had been working in a convenience store when Regan and two other men came in at about 10pm. They were clearly drunk and Regan, who the girl knew, came up to the counter and started making comments to her.

"She felt threatened, especially because she was the only member of staff in the shop area at the time," said Mr Macro. Eventually Regan leaned across and touched her chest and the girl pushed his hand away.

"It was clearly quite a serious incident but your hands are tied because of the recent Crown Court decision," said Mr Macro.

He said that as well as a nine-month prison sentence Regan had been put on the sex offenders register for 10 years and made subject to three years supervision on his release from prison.

Basharat Ditta, defending, said the magistrates' sentencing options were very limited.