A taxi driver is on trial accused of forcing a woman to have sex with him when she couldn't pay her fare in Hammersmith.

Mohammad Rahman, 34, denies two counts of rape in connection with the alleged incident on September 8 last year.

Mr Rahman, of Bunyan Road, Walthmastow, is accused of raping the woman, who cannot be named, when she asked for a lift home after a night out drinking in Hackney.

During the trial in the Old Bailey this week the woman described herself as "beyond drunk", having sunk nine pints and shots of tequila and whisky.

Jurors learned she discovered after getting into Rahman's Toyota Prius cab that she had lost her bank card.

She told the jury Rahman initially tried to persuade her to go to a hotel in King's Cross, and told her: "If you can't pay cash you will have to pay me some other way."

When she refused, Rahman drove to a lay-by in Hammersmith, pulled off her clothes and raped her against a wall, she claims.

Rahman told the court he had been working for Uber for six months before the alleged attack.

He said he was finishing his shift just before 2am when the woman jumped into his car in Mare Street, Hackney, and begged for a ride home to west London.

The jury heard Rahman initially refused, but relented when she cried and said she had no money to get a taxi.

Rahman told the court said the woman had already tried to hail a black taxi, but no one had agreed to take her.

He said he stopped briefly in King's Cross and suggested to the woman that she could get out and find a cab driver who was still working.

When she refused to get out, he said he continued until she asked him to pull over in Hammersmith.

He told the jury she touched his back in the car.

"She was offering me sex", Rahman said giving evidence.

"I didn't have the intention like this, I didn't think like this.'

Rahman denied forcing the woman to perform a sex act.

The court has heard Rahman dropped her off at her ex-boyfriend's house after the alleged attack, and was arrested three days later.

He refused to answer police questions, apart from to tell officers he had a good relationship with his wife.

The trial continues.

Originally published on Mirror Online .