A MAN told a court yesterday that a prostitute said he had raped her.

Factory worker Paul Thornton, 35, said he began to have sex with the prostitute, but became dizzy and had to lie down.

He said he met the 26-year-old and agreed to pay her £80 for a night of sex at his home.

Mr Thornton told her he only had £10, but would give her £70 the next day.

He told the court she agreed, and they had started to have sex, but he became dizzy and went out of the room. He said she was fully dressed when he returned and she started to cry.

He told Teesside Crown Court: "The tone of her voice turned nasty. She said she would get me done for rape.

"I said that I had not raped her. She said that I had not paid her and therefore, in her eyes, I had raped her."

Mr Thornton said he got a pickaxe handle and hit her once on the head. They scuffled and she ran downstairs, where he unlocked the door.

Mr Thornton, of Berkshire Road, Norton, near Stockton, pleaded not guilty to rape and guilty to actual bodily harm assault. The case continues.