A Huddersfield man has denied raping a seven-year-old girl at a remote Scottish cottage where he now lives.

Peter Carter, 49, pleads not guilty to raping the girl and sexually assaulting another young girl over a six-year period and is on trial at the High Court in Paisley.

Carter is said to have committed the offences in Argyll starting in the mid-2000s.

He told the jury in his trial today - Tuesday - that he moved to Scotland from England 19 years ago.

He said he had lived in Halifax and Huddersfield and worked as a mechanical engineer in factories but moved to Oban and set up his own carpentry business.

He told the court that he ran his business from outhouses he had built on land next to his remote home.

He said he moved to Scotland after seeing how his father, who was also an engineer, was treated.

He explained: “I used to make things like car parts, parts for submarines, tank shells, washers, you name it. I followed my father into engineering.

“He worked every Saturday morning for nothing. He was a manager and thought it was wrong to ask his workforce to work Saturday mornings.

“The system let him down so much.

“At 55 he was no longer seen as a useful cog in the machine and he was made redundant. I didn’t want to follow suit.”

In his bid to find a more stable job for the future he headed north and settled in Oban before eventually moving to a village, where prosecutors claim he abused the young girls.

When asked if he had raped the girl when she was aged seven or sexually assaulted another youngster when she was the same age, he replied: “No.”

He said both girls were lying about what they claim happened and he said he could not offer a reason as to why they were lying as he had not seen them in so long.

He said the only physical contact he’d ever had with the older girl was “scratching her back on request.”

And he said the only thing he had done with the younger girl was help to put her swimming costume on once because she had asked him to assist her.

Carter faces three charges in relation to the older girl with prosecutors claiming he abused her between the age of six and 11.

He also faces a fourth charge of abusing a girl when she was seven.

Giving evidence at Carter’s trial, the older girl said she could not say what had happened to her out loud.

She told the eight men and seven women of the jury that she scribbled details of the sex assaults on a piece of paper.

She explained: “It was easier for me to write them down than say them.

“I was finding it very hard to get the words out.”

Carter is said to have put his arms round the youngster, put his hands under her clothes and indecently assaulted her on numerous occasions.

He denies repeatedly using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour towards the youngster.

He is also accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting her by placing his arms round her and feeling her body parts under her clothing.

Prosecutors also claim he raped her at his home.

He denies the charges and has also pleaded not guilty to a charge that he sexually assaulted another girl at his home when she was just seven.

The trial continues.