A man has been convicted of raping a woman as she slept.

Neil Bell, 51, had denied one charge of rape following an incident on October 17, 2015.

But today, having heard all the evidence in the case, a jury of six men and six women at Carlisle Crown Court found Bell unanimously guilty.

During the trial, jurors heard of messages the victim sent to a friend the day after the offence.

"He has basically had sex with me without my consent because I was asleep," she reported. "How can he not know I was asleep when I was lying there, eyes closed, not moving."

Having learned of the jury's guilty verdict, Judge Peter Davies adjourned the case.

Bell - who had claimed the woman consented to sexual intercourse - was remanded in custody. He will be sentenced on June 16.

"It will be a custodial sentence," Judge Davies told Bell, of Walls Road, Salterbeck, Workington.