A Bradford councillor gave cash to two young girls after sexually abusing them, a court heard.

Bob Hargreaves, 62, a Liberal Democrat councillor for the Bolton and Undercliffe ward, went on trial at Bradford Crown Court yesterday after denying charges of indecency with a child, indecent assault and attempted rape.

The jury was told the abuse took place in a butcher's shop in 1992 and ended when Hargreaves allegedly tried to rape one of the girls. Neither of the girls can be identified for legal reasons.

Prosecutor Sharon Beattie told the court the abuse had started when Hargreaves coerced one of the girls, who were both 11 years old at the time, to perform a sexual act on him.

She said he paid the girl £3 and told her not tell anyone because, he said, no one would believe her.

Miss Beattie said the abuse continued with the defendant saying to her: "Next time we will go a bit further on to better things".

The court was told the girl then brought a friend with her because she was scared that Hargreaves would try and have sex with her, but Hargreaves is alleged to have started abusing the second girl too, and would pay them both £3 each.

The court was told that the abuse came to an end when Hargreaves tried to rape the first girl. He had put £20 down and said to the girls "who's going to be first".

Giving evidence yesterday the first girl wept as she described the abuse to the jury. She said she had seen Hargreaves abusing another girl but felt like she had no choice but to keep going back to see him.

"He told me not to tell anybody that I had been in the shop or what we had done. He said that no-one would believe me over him," she said.

The police first contacted the girl in 1994 because other allegations had been made against Hargreaves. She told them nothing had happened and no charges were brought.

She told the court that she did not see Hargreaves again until she was in her 20s when she saw him in the street. She was so shocked that she dropped a bottle of milk and began panicking, but eventually decided to track him down.

The court was told how she phoned him up and put the allegations to Hargreaves telling him he had ruined her life. Hargreaves is alleged to have replied by asking her how much she wanted.

She said she phoned him again later and said if he cleared her debts that would be fine, at which point Hargreaves said he was going to the police.

Both parties taped the calls and they will be played to the jury later in the trial which is expected to last all week.

Hargreaves, of Buttermere Road, Bolton, denies all the allegations made against him.

After he was arrested in 2004 Hargreaves told police that he was never alone in the shop with the girls, called the first girl a thief and said he had not had any sexual contact with either of them.

He has pleaded not guilty to six counts of indecency with a child, six of indecent assault and a further count of attempted rape.

A former school governor, Hargreaves was suspended from the Liberal Democrat group when the allegations first came to light. He was also reported to the Standards Board for England, which governs councillors' conduct.

Meanwhile he has continued to serve as a councillor but has stood down from his duties.

Hargreaves was elected to the Council in May 2004 and described himself as self-employed, having lived in the Bolton area with his wife for more than 20 years.

In his first year as a councillor he served on the Social Services Appeals Panel, the Licensing Committee, Bradford North Area Committee and the Keighley Area Planning Panel.

He is currently listed as an alternative member of the area committee. His seat is due to be contested in 2008.

The trial continues.