A taxi driver who picked up a teenage girl after she was allegedly raped at knifepoint told a jury she was upset and crying.

John Nolan was flagged down by the 16-year-old student at Hove Lagoon last October. She asked him to take her home.

Barman Stephen Potter, 35, is accused of grabbing the girl at knifepoint from a Brighton flat and raping her nearby after tying her up.

He is then alleged to have marched her three miles to the lagoon before raping her again.

Mr Nolan told Lewes Crown Court: "That is an unusual place but you pick up people anywhere anytime.

"She was upset, she was crying and I was a bit concerned and I didn't like to pry.

"There were tears coming down her face and her eyes were very red. She just said drive towards Brighton."

He told the court he waived the full price of the fare after the girl told him she only had £5.

Potter is alleged to have gone to a flat with the girl and her father after meeting them in a pub.

The father told the court he was "unsteady" on his feet by the time the trio left the pub.

He said: "Potter was very jovial, very comical. I thought perhaps he had been drinking.

"Potter and my daughter seemed to be laughing and talking. I didn't think anything untoward was happening."

He said they arrived at the flat and drank vodka and smoked cannabis together before he started to "doze off" and let the pair out.

Potter, of Olive Road in Portslade, denies two counts of rape and one of kidnap.

The trial continues.