A FORMER GP accused of sexually assaulting a woman has appeared in court.

Prakashchandra Jain, who worked at Askam's Parklands GP surgery, was arrested in connection with the assault in 2019.

He is charged with sexually touching a woman aged 16 or over without her consent.

It is said that the doctor did not reasonably believe the woman was consenting during the alleged incident in August 2019.

Mr Jain, 72, appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, where he entered a not guilty plea to the charge.

He case was sent to Preston Crown Court where he is due to appear on August 19.

He has been bailed until that time.

Following his arrest, bosses at the clinical commissioning group, which oversees general practitioner care in south Cumbria, informed patients that the GP was not able to work. 

A locum GP covered for him in his absence.

Mr Jain, of Parklands Drive in Askam, announced plans to retire from practice in March 2020.

Following that the future of the surgery and how it would serve more than 1,000 registered patients was thrown into doubt.

But after months of campaigning by the Save our Surgery Group, the practice was rescued from permanent closure.

The running of the surgery was eventually taken over by Duddon Valley Medical Practice after the GP's retirement.

According to the General Medical Council, the doctor was not licensed to practise medicine in the UK as of February 2021.

Mr Jain spent a considerable length of time under investigation by police following his arrest and did not return to work.