A SHOP assistant was allegedly "groped" four times by a customer who asked for her help.

Burnley Crown Court heard how the normally bubbly young woman was shaking, pale and very upset after she claimed she was molested by Mohammed Uddin, 36.

Uddin, of Merton Street, Burnley, denies four counts of indecent assault and told police he was Bengali and a Muslim and was not permitted to touch a woman other than his wife in that way.

A supervisor at a Burnley town centre hardware store told the jury the alleged victim was very pleasant and honest, but not very confident in herself and got upset easily.

Peter Thompson, security and CCTV operator at the shop, asked the woman what had happened and she said she had been been touched.

Mr Thompson said he asked her two or three times if Uddin was responsible and the woman said he was.

When police arrived an Asian colleague was called upon to help translate between Uddin and the officers.

Cross-examined by Ahmed Nadeem, defending, Mr Thompson agreed he had looked at CCTV video recordings of the shop that day and had found nothing to support the assault allegations.

He told the court the only time Uddin had appeared on film was when he was entering the store and he did not see the defendant and the assistant together on film.

The defendant said he had reached up to a shelf to get a toy and when he got down, the shop assistant moved forward and he must have come into contact with her. His hand may have come into contact with hers.

(Proceeding)