A MOTHER-of-three who was sexually assaulted by a taxi driver says she is struggling to get her life back on track.

The 42-year-old woman, who does not wish to be identified because she still fears reprisals from her attacker, was a passenger in Zaheer Arshad's minibus when he assaulted her near her home in Oswaldtwistle.

Arshad, 29, of Richmond Hill Street, Accrington, who was said to have a mental age of 12, admitted two counts of sexual assault when he appeared at Burnley Crown Court.

An 18-year-old girl was also molested by the same driver earlier this year.

Arshad - who worked for CB Radio Taxis on Church Street, Accrington - was given a community order with three years' supervision and he must attend the community sex offenders' programme. He has been banned from working as a private hire driver or operator indefinitely.

His second victim told the Observer that she had been on a night out with friends and went to get a taxi home at 2.30am. Her pal was dropped off and she climbed into the front seat.

She said: "He was really nice and chatty on the journey. As we got near home I asked how much I owed him and he said: 'It's not money I want off you'.

"He pushed the lock down with his elbow and started touching and kissing me. I was screaming and shouting for him to stop it and let me out. He reversed the taxi around the corner and started touching me again. His hands were all over me.

"I eventually got out of the taxi - I think I fell out. I came running down the street. I fell over the kerb, ran into the house and shouted for my husband."

The woman's husband said it was the first time in more than 20 years that he hadn't picked his wife up after a night out.

The woman said that Arshad was grabbing and pulling her towards him. The following day she claimed to have bruises on her arm where Arshad's fingers had grasped onto her.

She said she has struggled to recover from the ordeal and was worried that Arshad could return.

She is also angry at allegations she was drunk on the night in question and added: "I had had a drink but I was not drunk and I definitely was not flirting with him.

"I have been married for 23 years and I have three children. Why would I want to flirt with a 29-year-old taxi driver?"

The couple are now hoping media coverage of the case will come to an end so they can concentrate on the future.

But they are angry that they have never received an apology from Hyndburn Council's Licen-sing Committee or the taxi firm, which both allowed Arshad to keep his job even though they were aware of the first allegation of sexual assault against him.