A massage student told a court how her instructor touched her breasts during an oriental therapy session.

The woman claimed Mark Bishop, 51, groped her breasts while he was teaching the ancient art of shiatsu.

Bishop, an authority on the Japanese art of applying finger and hand pressure to relax and energise regions of the body, is alleged to have molested two women.

Bishop, founder of the International Shiatsu Commission, who learnt the therapy while living in Japan, held evening sessions at Sackville School in East Grinstead, where massage was done over the top of loose clothing.

One of his alleged victims, aged 55, told Hove Crown Court yesterday: "In classes there were certain things you did not do. You didn't touch any genitals or breasts but when I went to receive therapy at his house that was a slightly different story.

"I was lying on the floor and he was doing shiatsu. He said 'Oh do you realise you can massage the breasts?' and I said 'Don't be ridiculous, that's totally open to abuse'."

She said he put both hands on her breasts over her T-shirt and bra but she told him to back off.

Russell Houston, defending, suggested that touching breasts was a normal part of therapy.

The woman replied: "Then why weren't we taught it in class? No, he groped me."

Bishop is also alleged to have fondled the breasts of a 55-year-old with multiple sclerosis, and put his hand down her knickers.

Bishop, of Fairfield Road, East Grinstead, denies two counts of indecent assault against each of the two women.

The case continues.