A man accused of rape told a jury his alleged victim asked him to have sex in a dark city centre doorway moments after they met.

Eddy Biharanduka, 38, claimed she happily had sex with him and they both had fun.

Biharanduka, of Oriental Place, Brighton, denies rape at a trial at Lewes Crown Court.

His alleged victim, a 21-year-old barmaid, has accused him of dragging her to a doorway in Stone Street, Brighton, in the early hours of April 2, 2005.

She claimed she feared for her life when he threatened to kill her if she screamed for help.

The court has heard Biharanduka and the woman only met moments earlier when she passed him in Western Road as she walked home alone after spending the evening with friends at the Creation nightclub, in West Street, Brighton.

They briefly spoke after she approached him and asked for the luminous plastic necklace he was wearing.

She told the court that he asked for her telephone number but she refused and as she walked away he followed her before grabbing hold of her and dragging her into the side street, where she claims she was brutally raped.

Biharanduka told the jury he had not forced her to have sex.

He said: "I was doing what she asked me to do. I never forced her to do anything.

"I did what she wanted me to do. She wanted me to have sex with her on the floor."

He told the court that they had both been drinking that night.

He said: "She was very happy. She had been drinking and I had been drinking as well.

"In my mind we were both having fun."

The court has heard the woman claims her ordeal only ended when two passing delivery drivers approached to ask if she was all right.

She ran into the arms of one of the men and claimed she had been raped.

The woman was taken to a friend's house while the men kept watch on Biharanduka until the police arrived.

Biharanduka told the jury the couple had been chatting after sex when the two men approached them and repeatedly asked her if she was OK.

He said eventually she got up and ran towards them.

Biharanduka was upset because she had been with him until they arrived, the court heard.

He said that when he heard one of the men ring for the police he did not run away because he did not believe that he had done anything wrong.

"I said, This is a boyfriend and girlfriend matter.' "I was not very worried about anything and I stayed there until the police arrived," he told the court.

"I never tried to walk or run away. I was waiting for the police because I was with a girl and she asked me to have sex with her and I was not worried about it."

The trial continues.