A TAXI driver is accused of groping a 13-year-old-girl in his car.

Mohammed Sidkar is alleged to have picked up the child he knew from a Woodingdean bus stop when she asked for a lift in June last year.

Once she was in the front passenger seat, he is accused of touching her and asking her to touch him, Brighton magistrates heard.

Sidkar, 53, is claimed to have then asked her if she had a boyfriend or liked older men.

The prosecution accused him of an “abuse of trust” and said there was a significant age difference between him and the girl.

Sidkar faces allegations he repeatedly asked her to touch him, locked the car door at one point before she asked to be let out and “pestered” her to tell her when her mother would be home as he wanted to visit her home.

Sidkar, of Marine Parade, Brighton, denied engaging in sexual activity with a child.

The case was adjourned until October 5 and he is set to stand trial in front of a jury at a crown court.

Until then he was released on conditional bail and has restricted access to children apart from his own, cannot contact any known members of the alleged victim’s family or park near her address.