A FORMER fire chief has gone on trial accused of raping a widow in his home.

A court heard that the alleged victim, a woman in her fifties, was attacked when she went to Peter Glover's house for coffee.

The woman gave evidence via a video-link on the first day of the trial at Teesside Crown Court yesterday and admitted she thought he was "a lovely man".

Simon Reevell, prosecuting, said Mr Glover, 62, had first paid her compliments when they met on the bus and told her: "You have the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen."

The couple arranged to go for a meal on March 3 last year, but when Mr Glover met the woman off her bus, they went to his home in Loftus, east Cleveland, for a coffee instead.

The court was told that after he made her a drink, Mr Glover kissed her and tried to force his tongue down her throat, but she resisted and said she had not gone there for sex. Giving evidence, the church-going woman said Mr Glover became more forceful, unbuttoned her bra, pulled down her trousers and underwear and raped her.

The woman admitted she felt like she was falling in love with Mr Glover after several meetings, but wanted to get to know him better before they slept together.

"He was the perfect gentleman until he got me in his house," she told the jury of eight women and four men.

Asked by Mr Reevell how the compliments had made her feel, the woman, a mother-of-one, said: "I felt great.

"I had really, really fallen in love with him, but I thought we would have a few more times together just talking.

"He was nice. I can't say any other. He was really lovely, really charming and telling me all about his job.

"I thought we would have a few more times together talking before I went to bed with him, and I would have done in proper circumstances."

Mr Reevell told the jury that the woman was upset and spoke to friends over the next few days, including a vicar and a nurse, and put bleach in her mouth because she felt she was not clean enough to go to church.

Mr Glover, of Coronation Road, who ran the local retained fire brigade for many years, denies three charges of rape, and claims he did not have sex with the woman.

The trial continues.