A teenager was raped after she spurned the amorous advances of a fellow partygoer, a court heard.

Neil Proctor, 27, allegedly attacked the terrified 18-year-old after declaring his love for her when she stepped outside of the house party to search for her friends.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how the woman was at the house in South View, Burnhope, County Durham, after a night out at the cricket club in the town on September 1, last year.

After losing her friend she went outside where she was grabbed by Proctor, who said he wanted to talk to her.

The teenager tried to struggle, but Proctor pinned her to the ground with his hand over her mouth and raped her while her friends called for her in the distance.

The court heard how, after the assault, Proctor left the distraught woman lying in a heap on the ground and said: "It takes two to tango."

She made her way back to the party, where the police were called and Proctor was arrested.

Proctor, of Langley Terrace, Burnhope, County Durham, denies rape, attempted rape and indecently assaulting another female on the way to the party earlier that same night.

He claims the sex was consensual, a "simple act of passion, nothing else", and the trial continues.