The Sussex roots of an accused serial rapist emerged yesterday as he sobbed in the witness box: "I've been gay most of my life."

Railway worker Antoni Imiela began giving evidence yesterday at his trial, to answer accusations he attacked nine women and girls aged between ten and 52.

His wife Christine and the parents of a ten-year-old girl he allegedly raped in Ashford, Kent, looked on as he said he was born in 1954 in Germany.

He came to Britain in 1961 with a brother and sister and lived in Worthing.

There were two more children and the family moved to County Durham, where he grew up.

He told how he later ran an "arty-farty" shop in Rye.

He said: "It was okay. There was always money in the till."

He also did various plastering, roofing and electrical work before joining railway maintenance company Serviral in Woking, Surrey, in February 2000.

Imiela, of Appledore, near Ashford, denies nine counts of rape relating to eight attacks between November 2001 and October 2002 in Kent, London, Surrey and Hertfordshire.

He also denies the kidnap, indecent assault and attempted rape of a ten-year-old girl in Birmingham on November 21, 2002.

Imiela told Maidstone Crown Court: "I've been gay most of my life. I get on well with women.

"There are probably only three or four women I've actually stopped with."

At one point during his evidence he appeared to cry briefly before wiping his face with a tissue, telling his lawyer Rebecca Poulet: "It is just nerves."

He broke down in tears again when talking about his Polish father and German mother being refugees and their departure to the UK in 1961.

When asked by Mrs Poulet whether something had happened to his family in 1968, he began sobbing: "You said you would not mention that."

Imiela said he left Serviral for another company during 2002.

He said he would often get home late from work, sometimes at 11pm, saying: "I went to meet people. I feel pretty stupid as I have already told you I am gay. It was men."

When asked where he went, he replied: "London, Earl's Court, the West End, Hampstead Heath. The usual gay bars."

He said he told his wife he "had been" gay but "kept it quiet" about his use of prostitutes.

Mrs Poulet also asked Imiela about condoms police had found hidden in his shed and garage.

He said his wife had once found 14 condoms so he hid them.

When asked by Mrs Poulet why he had them, he said: "To stop me catching diseases."

When she asked "From whom?", he answered: "Prostitutes and men."

She said experts would criticise the DNA evidence the prosecution claimed linked Imiela to the attacks. The trial continues.