A TEENAGER told a court yesterday that she handed over money she earned from working as a prostitute to a man 40 years older than her.

The 17-year-old girl said she had nowhere to stay last year when she was introduced to 57-year-old Colin Craig, and went to live in his house.

The girl told a jury at Teesside Crown Court that she handed over a couple of £20 notes to him.

Mr Craig, 57, of Petch Close, Middlesbrough, appeared before the court charged with living off prostitution.

He has denied the allegation.

Michael Bosomworth, prosecuting, told the court that last year the girl had left home and was living on the streets, using heroin and working as a prostitute.

Mr Bosomworth said the prosecution alleged that Mr Craig took up with the girl to take a slice out of her earnings as a prostitute. She stayed with him for three weeks.

The girl was seen by police officers in November last year, when she was out on the street working. She got into their car and was taken home to her family, said Mr Bosomworth.

The teenager told the court that she had slept in the same bed as Mr Craig at his home, and that she had sex with him.

The girl said that he would stand out and watch her when she was on the street, but he played no part in getting custom for her.

Peter Sabiston, for Mr Craig, said that the defendant had not received money from the girl and that she had been vague about handing over her earnings.

Mr Sabiston told the court: "Here was a young girl - desperately down on her luck - and here was a man - perhaps flattered by her attention - prepared to put her up, feed her, give her a warm place to stay.

"He wasn't expecting anything in return at all, except perhaps a contribution to food, which he never got."

The case continues.