A PRIVATE-HIRE driver has denied sexually assaulting a passenger in the centre of Oxford.

Haroon Sidiq gave evidence in the second day of his trial at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

The 25-year-old denies two counts of kidnap and one of sexual assault in relation to an incident in George Street on July 25 last year.

Sidiq was driving his Toyota Avensis with Royal Cars and city council badges on at about 3.20am when two women in their 20s got in.

He told jurors he had pulled over because he had initially mistaken one of the women for a friend.

He said: “As she put her head in towards the car I said ‘Sorry, I’ve got the wrong person’.

“She was like ‘I’ve seen you in the Bridge (nightclub)’ and I was like ‘Yes, I was in the Bridge’ and she was like ‘What are you doing driving a taxi?’ and I said ‘I’m not driving a taxi I’m on a night out with friends’.

“I was about to drive off and she was like ‘Can you take us to Witney?’ and I said ‘I’m sorry, I’m not working’.”

Sidiq, of Courtland Road, Rose Hill, said he let the women into the car to chat but said he did not touch one of the women’s legs nor ask her to perform a sex act on him.

The trial continues.