Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell raped a girl (6) while she was holding her teddy bear, a court has heard.

The star, who plays car mechanic Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, placed a second teddy bear over his victim's mouth as he sexually assaulted her, the court heard.

"It's okay. I'm making the evil stop once and for all now. It'll be fine," he allegedly told the girl.

Le Vell then raped the youngster, kissed her on the cheek and left, the court heard.

Prosecutors at Manchester Crown Court, where Le Vell is being tried for 12 child sex offences, said the victim was so upset she tried to console herself by talking to her teddy bears, telling them what had happened.

The youngster was too scared to tell anyone else, because Le Vell allegedly said to her: "No-one needs to know, otherwise you'll be taken, you'll die and evil will come over you."

When he was finally confronted by the victim's mother, the jury heard that Le Vell became very angry, grabbed the woman and pinned her against a wall.

The actor (48), who is on trial under his real name of Michael Turner, denies the offences and shook his head saying "not guilty" as the charges were put to him before his trial began.

Le Vell is facing five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two counts of sexual activity with a child and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

The alleged offences relate to one complainant and are said to have taken place between 2001 and September 2010. The girl was aged between six and 14.

The father of two, originally from Manchester, is one of TV's most famous faces after playing the soap's garage owner for the past 30 years.

ITV has said he will not be appearing in any further episodes of the soap pending the outcome of legal proceedings.

The actor split from his wife, Janette Beverley, last year.

His trial is scheduled to last around two weeks.