A FORMER Bridgwater man has appeared in court charged with four counts of sexual activity with a child.

Samuel Netley, 30, previously of Taunton Road, Bridgwater, has denied having sex with a 13-year-old girl from Ivybridge.

Netley, who also has a previous address in Upton Pyne, near Crediton, entered not guilty pleas to the four charges when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court.

All the alleged offences relate to the same complainant, with whom he is alleged to have had sexual activity in four different ways on August 25, 2019, at Ivybridge.

He also denied breaking a Sexual Harm Prevention Order by communicating with a child who was under 16 between August and September 2019.

Judge Anna Richardson transferred his case to Plymouth Crown Court and adjourned it to a hearing later this month at which a date will be set for a jury trial.