A manager has described to a jury how a teenage girl who claims she was groped by her dentist was "quiet and upset" when she came to work in the minutes after the alleged assault.

Bradford Crown Court was told that the 16-year-old was normally "singing and dancing" at work but was subdued when she arrived after having an after-hours appointment with Dr Muzzafar Zaman at the surgery on High Street, Brighouse.

The manager, who cannot be named to protect the girl's identity, told the jury: "She was quiet, not her normal self. I asked her if she was all right, she was quiet at the time which was not like her. She just mentioned that she had been to the dentist and was a little bit upset."

The woman then said that the teenager had told her that Zaman, who denies a charge of sexual assault, had given her gas and air before touching her arm and stomach, and indicated to the jury that he had moved her hand up to her chest. The court heard evidence from the dental assistant at the surgery, Stacey Sagar, who said Zaman persuaded her not to clean the surgery on the night of the alleged assault. Instead he helped her to clean on the afternoon meaning he would be alone when she came in at 5.20pm.

When Miss Sagar came in on the Friday, she said that the complainant's dental records were out and when she asked Zaman about it he said that he had to ring her and change the appointments which she thought was strange because that was normally her job.

She told the jury that Zaman, 40, had not mentioned that the teenager had been in the night before.

Zaman, of Central Park, Saville Park, in Halifax, is alleged to have groped the girl's chest whilst she was partially sedated with gas and air in his dentists chair in February last year.

But the dentist has denied that he inappropriately touched her and told police that he was only by himself because his secretary had gone home sick.

The trial continues.