A DOCTOR groped a teenage schoolgirl patient's breasts and played with her nipples during a GP appointment, a court heard today (Monday, March 2).

Locum GP Unt Tun Maung cupped and squeezed each of the girl's breasts for a "significant period of time" while her mother waited in an adjoining room, Durham Crown Court was told.

Dr Maung is on trial for sexual assaulting two teenage girls, one under the age of 16, during GP appointments at medical practices in south Durham and Teesside.

The 37-year-old, of Chester-le-Street, denies both charges, saying the alleged offences simply did not take place.

Prosecutor Peter Makepeace said the first assault took place on July 24, 2012, when Dr Maung asked a teenager to remove her bra before cupping and squeezing her breasts, one by one.

The second charge arises from a complaint by a younger teenager, under 16, from September 18, 2013. Dr Maung is accused of cupping and squeezing the girl's breasts under her bra and playing with her nipples.

Mr Makepeace said the actions were entirely inappropriate and Dr Maung had used a medical examination to "camouflage" sexual assault.

The older patient struggled to hold back tears as she described her experience in court today (Monday), saying it had made her feel uncomfortable, vulnerable and violated.

She had gone to see a doctor complaining of a chest infection but says Dr Maung asked her to remove her bra and pressed "harshly" on her breastbone and ribs before cupping and squeezing each breast.

"I left feeling really uncomfortable, vulnerable, and immediately on leaving the room I wanted to get out," the woman told the jury.

"I texted a friend of mine and said: 'I feel like I've just been groped. That's all you need'."

She told her mother, who was receiving cancer treatment, who then made a complaint to the medical practice and took notes on what her daughter said had happened, the court heard.

However, it was eight months later before the practice advised her to call the police.

During cross-examination, the patient admitted she had memory difficulties but denied she had misunderstood the situation.

The trial continues.