A SHOOT employee has been cleared of raping a young woman at the end of a three-day trial.

Underkeeper Thomas Atkinson, 27, told the jury at York Crown Court that the sex he had with the woman had been consensual by both of them.

The jury heard that the two and a friend of the young woman had spent the evening visiting pubs in Malton before going to a hotel when the woman and her friend had booked rooms for the night.

Both the young woman and Atkinson gave evidence. After hearing from them and other witnesses, the jury acquitted him of rape after three hours and 15 minutes in retirement.

Mr Atkinson who is an underkeeper for a shoot on the North York Moors, of Town End Close, Pickering, had denied the charges.