A CHURCH-GOING widow told a court yesterday that she was raped by a man who showed her a photograph of himself at Buckingham Palace being made an MBE.

She said former firefighter Peter Glover invited her to his home when their friendship blossomed after the pair met on a country bus.

While there, he told the woman, in her fifties, that she had beautiful eyes and paid other compliments, the court heard.

The court was told that after he made her a cup of tea, he kissed her, then tried to force his tongue into the woman's mouth.

The woman said she told him she had not gone there for sex, and said he then became more forceful and raped her.

Simon Reevell, prosecuting, said that afterwards, the woman sought refuge in a toilet, but when she emerged some time later, he again forced her to have sex.

He said: "Then he could not get rid of her quickly enough.

"He bundled her out of the door and he drove her near to her home, speeding off saying that he had to be up early the next morning."

The court heard that the woman was upset and spoke to a number of friends over the next few days, including a vicar and a nurse.

Mr Reevell told Teesside Crown Court: "She said that she was not sufficiently clean to go to church, and that she tried to put bleach into her mouth."

Mr Glover, 62, was arrested nine days later and said the woman made sexual advances towards him.

Mr Reevell said: "He said that she put her arms around him saying 'I'm in love with you'.

"He said that he did not know how his trousers and shirt came off, but he put them back on. He alleged that she was essentially growling and wanting sex from him."

Mr Glover, of Coronation Road, Loftus, east Cleveland, who ran the local retained fire brigade for years, denies three charges of rape on March 3.