A clergyman who worked at a Cumbrian school has denied allegations that he “sexually touched” the feet of two boys.

The Rev Christopher Griffin, 57, has gone on trial at Carlisle Crown Court where he denies six sexual assault allegations – four involving one boy and two relating to another.

Both victims were between 16 and 17 at the time of the alleged offences, the jury heard.

Prosecutor Kim Whittlestone told the court that the boys involved reported that the defendant had stroked their legs and feet as they pretended to be asleep.

The assaults are said to have happened over 12 months on dates in 2015 and 2016.

Conceding that the case was “unusual”, the barrister said the touching had been sexual.

Throughout yesterday morning, the jury heard the defendant's police interviews.

Asked about his contact with the boys, Griffin said he was in the habit of pushing duvets back on to the beds as they regularly fell off.

“I think this is what we're talking about,” he said.

Given an account from one of the boys, in which one teenager said the defendant squeezed his right foot as he lay in bed, Griffin said: “I don't know what he's talking about.”

After that incident, said the officer, the boy texted a friend, saying what happened "freaked him out”.

Griffin replied: “I'd feel exactly the same but I didn't do these things.

"I think they sound absolutely horrendous but I didn't do these things. If the duvet had fallen off I'd put the duvet back on.

“The duvets tend to fall off at the end of the bed.”

The defendant insisted he never went into the boys' room at night in the dark and suggested the second boy involved had picked up on the “bandwagon” started by the other teenager.

Griffin, now of Ingleton, North Yorkshire, said he replaced duvets because he did not want the boys to be cold.

He added: “I don't touch people's feet and there's been no misunderstanding because I'm not doing it. I'm just putting duvets back.”

The trial continues.