A former milkman who gave £53,000 of his life savings to the woman next door was trying to buy sexual favours, a Court has heard.

Bradford County Court was told David Longbottom was infatuated with his blonde next-door neighbour Debbie Rymer and gave her cash to buy a dream cottage in Shelf after her marriage broke up.

But Mrs Rymer's solicitor Roger Seddon said Mr Longbottom had started making sexual advances towards her a couple of weeks after he had helped her buy the cottage.

Mr Longbottom, of Hatchett Lane, Oakenshaw, has brought the case against Mrs Rymer to demand the return of the cash which he says was a loan but which she says was given to her in gifts.

But he denied he had tried to start a sexual relationship with Mrs Rymer and said he had lent her the money as a friend going through a rough patch.

Mr Seddon said Mr Longbottom had told Mrs Rymer that he had watched her and her husband watching "a dirty video" through a window and told her about his own sexual problems.

He also alleged that Mr Longbottom had dropped his trousers in front of Mrs Rymer at the cottage asking what underwear her husband wore. Mr Longbottom denied this.

Mr Seddon said: "You started talking about the difficulties between you and your partner in your sex life. You said your partner wouldn't have sex with you.''

Judge Hutchinson then asked Mr Seddon whether the point of the questioning was that Mr Longbottom had "invested £50,000 in the hope of a promise."

Mr Seddon said: "What I'm suggesting to you, Mr Longbottom, is that you were starting to make salacious remarks to my client at the time when she had bought the cottage and work needed doing to it and there was nowhere else she could turn."

Mr Longbottom replied: "This is not what happened. There was no question of sex being brought into this affair. She was an attractive lady but I lent her the money because she said she would repay me as soon as possible.

"This money was a loan, this was nothing to do with sex. My sex life with my partner is my affair and I wouldn't discuss my relationship with my partner with another lady.''

The court was told how Mr Longbottom arranged to meet Mrs Rymer in a motorway service station car park to hand over wads of cash, gave her chocolates and spending money for shopping trips and became a shoulder to cry on as Mrs Rymer's marriage to her police constable husband collapsed.

The court also heard how Mr Longbottom kept a diary of the amounts of money he gave Mrs Rymer over a period of months but failed to formalise the loans with a contract.

Mr Longbottom said he believed Mrs Rymer was due to receive a considerable amount of money from her mother and that he trusted her to pay him back.

Mr Longbottom also denied he had become jealous when Mrs Rymer told him she had started an affair with Bradford entrepreneur Anthony Scaife. But he admitted that he had taken an instant dislike to Mr Scaife and warned Mrs Rymer against seeing him.

Under cross-examination Mr Longbottom, admitted that he had not told Irene, his partner of 14 years, how much he had lent Mrs Rymer.

He said: "I didn't say how much at the time because it didn't have anything to do with my partner. I'm embarrassed that I lent her all this money but it was a loan, I didn't want any favours for it."

The hearing continues.