The alleged victim of a rape at an Indian restaurant was never inside the premises after hours, a court has heard.

Shibbir Ahmed took to the stand at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday to deny a charge of rape relating to an alleged incident ten years ago.

Ahmed, of Coronation Avenue, Colchester, admitted he knew the teenager but said she had ever been inside the Tandoori Villa restaurant in Stanway when it was closed.

He said: “She came in two or three times to collect a takeaway and on one occasion she sat down and ate.

“She never came into the restaurant after hours.”

Ahmed claimed the woman and a friend used to ask for leftover food when passing the restaurant.

He believes she became annoyed when he told the waiters not to talk or acknowledge them.

Diana Pygott, prosecuting, said Ahmed had actually taken the teenager and her friend to the restaurant several times - picking them up from the other side of Colchester and dropping them home again afterwards.

“You were plying them with free drinks for sexual favours,” she said.

“You are saying she has made up this terrible allegation against you because you believed you got your waiters to tell her off.”

READ MORE: Colchester restaurateur 'gave teen free alcohol then raped her'

Ahmed, 58, also denies three counts of sexual assault against another woman which allegedly took place in July 2016.

In the dock he claimed she was alone with him in the premises after she had attended an interview in the restaurant.

He said: “She went with different waiters to do different things but the waiters said it would be better if they were left alone because she kept on talking and it did not seem like she wanted to learn.”

The restaurant manager, who has worked at Tandoori Villa for 12 years, said the woman became agitated when he told her she did not get the job whilst driving her home.

Ms Pygott said: “When she was in the restaurant when it was shut did you not think that was wrong or inappropriate.

“You were doing to one girl exactly what you had done to the other girl eight years earlier.

“You were giving them free drinks after hours and you were doing that so that you could sexually abuse them.

“You were sexually attracted to her and you had her on her own and you grabbed her left breast and put your hand on her thigh.”

The trial is expected to finish today.