A PART-TIME taxi driver has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage passenger.

Saghir Ahmed, 36, of Rhoda Street, Nelson, who is also a factory worker, was arrested in March after a 16-year-old girl reported to police that she had been attacked in a layby off West Merton Lane, a secluded lane near Barnoldswick.

Married Ahmed, who works as a private hire taxi driver on Friday and Saturday nights and also has a second job at Friendship Mill in Read, was arrested at his home and interviewed by detectives.

He was originally charged with attempted rape and assault by penetration but pleaded guilty to indecent assault when he appeared before Preston Crown Court last week.

He was remanded in custody pending pre-sentence reports.

Police said the offence related to an incident, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday, March 18, when the girl got in to a taxi driven by Ahmed outside the Station Hotel in Earby.

Ahmed agreed to take the girl home to Barnoldswick but instead drove her to a secluded location on the edge of the town before indecently assaulting her, according to officers.

He then left the frightened girl to make her own way home.

Burnley CID's DC Marc Craven said: "This case has caused great distress for the teenage victim and her family."

Ahmed is due to appear at Preston Crown Court on September 21 for sentence.

DC Craven added: "Having been involved in the investigation from the beginning, I feel that the guilty plea and the remand in custody is the correct result."