A Lancashire primary school teacher indecently touched six of his female pupils in the classroom in an "overtly sexual manner", a court has heard.

The behaviour of Peter Wilson, 35, towards the girls at the school, was alleged to have been "wholly inappropriate" over a number of months.

He is accused of touching the bottoms of his alleged victims and of kissing and hugging some of them between November 2009 and April last year.

Wilson, of Bentley Green, Thornton Cleveleys, was suspended from the school in the Blackpool area - which cannot be named for legal reasons - after two of the youngsters told another teacher about the incidents.

Jeremy Lasker, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court that up to the point of his suspension the defendant was regarded as "a well-liked and well-respected member of staff".

He said: "It is the Crown's case that over a number of months leading up to the date when he was suspended that the defendant behaved in a wholly inappropriate manner towards a number of girls at the school.

"This behaviour occurred for the most part in the classroom while a lesson was in progress or at the end of a lesson when the children were filing past.

"The Crown say if all the allegations are true then the defendant's actions made them feel extremely uncomfortable when they were in his class or when they were in his presence.

"Not only did he fall short of the standards expected from a primary school teacher and the trust placed in him but he was over a period of several months behaving towards these young girls in an overtly sexual manner."

Wilson denies 14 counts of sexual assault. Mr Lasker said all of the charges, except for one, were specimen counts which reflected examples of repeated behaviour.

Following his arrest Wilson denied any wrongdoing.

All six girls are due to give evidence, along with their mothers, in a trial scheduled to last two weeks.

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