A doctor charged with assaulting a patient has appeared in court.

Dr Abiodun Olumuyiwa Bale is alleged to have grabbed a female patient and pulled her back as she attempted to leave a room following a disagreement over diagnosis and advice he had given.

Bale, who was working at the Hyndburn Medical Practice pleaded not guilty to assault.

The 42-year-old of The Fairway, New Moston, Manchester, has been remanded on bail after appearing at Blackburn Magistrates.

He is set to appear at a trial on September 16.

Rita Naylor, practice manager at the centre based at the Acorn Primary Health Care Centre on Blackburn Road, Accrington, said Bale was in the third year of speciality GP training (ST3 GP) to become a specialist.

She said: "Due to an on-going enquiry in relation to the ST3 GP the practice cannot comment.  Dr Bale is known to us but he is not employed directly by the practice. His employers are The Pennine Acute Hospitals."

A spokesperson for the Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust said: “The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is the Lead Employer providing recruitment and employment services to speciality doctors in training and since April GPs in training and their host trusts located within the North Western Deanery. Regardless of where doctors in training are allocated placements in the North Western Deanery region, they are all employed and supported by the Trust for the duration of the training programme. All employee support, employment and administration including quality assurance is carried out by the Trust as the Lead Employer on behalf of the North Western Deanery.”