A FORMER top doctor is due to stand trial after he was charged with four counts of child rape.

Paul Grout, the former deputy medical director of the trust that runs Barrow and Kendal's hospital, appeared at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday after he was charged with the offences.

The 65-year-old, from Ulverston, is alleged to have carried out the offences in Barrow and Ulverston, in 2020.

Mr Grout, Stanley Street, denied the offences and is now due to stand trial over the charges on February 5 next year.

The former doctor was once hailed a hero after one of the UK's worst rail crashes.

He was lauded after the Selby rail disaster, which killed 10 people and injured 82 others in February 2001.

A train was derailed when it crashed with a car that came down a motorway embankment and was hit by another train travelling in the opposite direction.

Grout, then a senior consultant at nearby Hull Royal Infirmary, was the first medic to enter the wreckage and was credited with preventing more deaths.

He later worked as the site lead at Furness General Hospital and the deputy medical director for the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

He was suspended in 2021.

The General Medical Council also imposed restrictions on his practice pending the outcome of an investigation.

A spokesperson for the public body confirmed that an investigation was ongoing.

Details of the alleged wrongdoing had not been made public until he appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates Court in April.

According to the GMC, Mr Grout gave up his licence to practise in September.

Trust bosses said the alleged offences are not related to his work.

Jane McNicholas, chief medical officer of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are aware that a doctor who previously worked for the Trust has been charged with offences not related to their role at the Trust.

"The individual left the Trust in early 2021.

"As there are ongoing criminal proceedings, it is not appropriate for us to comment further at this time, except to say that we will continue to support any relevant investigations."