A MAN from Bolton accused of sex assaults on a 13-year-old girl at Freckleton, on the Fylde, has made his first appearance before magistrates..

Stephen Hodgkinson, aged 37, of Mendip Close, Horwich, faces three charges of indecently assaulting the schoolgirl.

He is also accused of gross indecency towards the teenager.

Hodgkinson, an electrical engineer, is charged with taking an indecent photograph of the girl. Prosecutor Alison Quanbrough did not oppose defence lawyer Michael Woosnam's application for an adjournment.

Hodgkinson was bailed to June 27 by Blackpool magistrates on the condition he did not contact prosecution witnesses.