A CAR dealer has been cleared of exposing himself and committing a sex act in front of young children in a Nelson back alley.

Shaun Berry, 36, was cleared of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13, after a three-day trial at Burnley Crown Court.

The defendant, of Walton Lane, Nelson, who denied the allegation and told the jury he had gone to urinate, was discharged from the dock.

The court heard claims the defendant was alleged to have struck in the rear yard of an empty and boarded-up house in Vernon Street, Nelson.

A seven-year-old girl told police she had seen a man go into the yard, start pulling his pants up and down and begin to touch himself.

The man was said to have put his finger to his mouth in a "shushing motion", telling the youngsters to remain quiet so he would not be seen while performing the alleged sex act.

Forensic tests from the yard later revealed a DNA profile which matched the defendant's but when police confronted him with the evidence he made no comment.

The jury was told Berry had at first told police he had a "mad session" with a friend around the time of the alleged offence, had been drunk and remembered rummaging in a back yard.

In a second interview he made no comment. Berry explained his DNA by saying he had urinated.