A barmaid who claims she was raped in the street has denied she wanted her alleged attacker to make love to her.

The 21-year-old woman was allegedly dragged down a side street off Western Road, in Brighton, as she walked home after a night out in April 2005.

She claims she thought she was going to die during the terrifying ordeal when the alleged rapist put his hand over her mouth and threatened to kill her if she called for help.

Eddy Biharanduka, 38, of Oriental Place, Brighton, denies rape.

He claims that after starting to chat with the woman near Churchill Square, she led him to Stone Street where she wanted him to have sex on the ground in the doorway of the rear of a shop.

The woman, who was only a short distance from her flat when she was allegedly attacked, denies she consented to have sex in the street with a stranger.

Tom MacKinnon, defending Biharanduka at Lewes Crown Court today, said: "You wanted him to make love to you?"

She said: "No. If I wanted him then why would I shout for help, scream my head off and fight for my life?"

The woman denied she had used her coat as a blanket, kicked off her shoes and stripped off her underwear.

Mr MacKinnon asked her: "It was your idea he accompany you around the corner into Stone Street. You said let's sit down here and talk?

"Then you touched him and he touched you and eventually you started kissing each other?"

She replied: "No. That did not happen."

The woman claims her ordeal ended when two delivery drivers passing by became suspicious and asked her if she was all right.

She claims she took the opportunity to get up and run towards them. When she told them she had been raped they took her to a friend's home nearby and kept a watch on Biharanduka until the police arrived.

Mr MacKinnon suggested to the woman she had lied about being raped to the two men because she was embarrassed as she did not have her underwear on and Biharanduka was not wearing trousers. He suggested she felt forced to continue with the lie when the police arrived.

He said: "You had to stick to this story that you were raped but the truth is you just had too much to drink and did something you might not normally do?"

She replied: "I was raped."

Mr MacKinnon suggested the grazes on her face and marks and bruises over her body were caused accidentally because she had been drinking.

The court has heard the woman was walking home alone in the early hours after spending the evening with friends at the Creation nightclub, in West Street, when she passed Biharanduka, who was at a bus stop talking to a group of people.

She asked if he would give her a luminous plastic necklace, popular with clubbers, which he was wearing and he agreed. He asked for her telephone number which she did not give and she walked away.

But, she claimed, he followed her and grabbed hold of her dragging her into Stone Street where he pushed her to the ground and put his hand over her mouth, telling her: "I am going to rape you now. Don't make a noise otherwise I will kill you."

The trial continues.