A TEACHING assistant told a schoolboy he would be a "legend" if he had sex with her on her desk, a court heard yesterday.

Helen Turnbull, 35, also asked the pupil which knickers she should wear for a secret meeting with him - pink or yellow.

Turnbull denies having sex with the 16-year-old but has confessed to kissing him and sending him flirtatious messages.

She spent a second day in the witness box at Teesside Crown Court as she was cross-examined by prosecutor Sarah Mallett.

The mother-of-two denied being unfaithful to her ex-husband Ben, and insisted that she never had sex with the schoolboy.

Miss Mallett asked the former literacy assistant about a large number of messages the pair sent each other over the internet.

The jury was told ahead of one meeting at an industrial estate, she asked him what colour pants she should wear - "pink or yellow".

When he replied "pink", she wrote back: "Haha, got them on."

On another occasion, they discussed where they should have sex and he suggested the desk at her County Durham school.

Miss Mallett said: "You say he would be a legend. You say 'gutted if we get caught' because you would get sacked."

They also discussed staying at a hotel and undressing, as he wrote "Your dress wouldn't be on for long, like", and she replied: "To the floor in seconds."

Turnbull, of Church View, Haswell, County Durham, told the prosecution: "It was just chat, all talk, it didn't happen."

Earlier, Miss Mallett asked her about messages they swapped after they first kissed, when he wrote to her "You love kissing me", and she replied: "It's a guilty pleasure."

She added: "Clearly teaching does have its perks."

When Miss Mallett asked if teaching had the "advantage" of giving her contact with people to kiss, Turnbull replied: "That was a stupid thing to say and I fully admit it.

"Earlier in the messages I say why am I even doing it. I was confused. Guilty pleasure - we did kiss and I did feel guilty about it."

Turnbull admits one count of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust, but denies a further three.

The trial continues.