A record-breaking Gloucester driving school owner who has competed on Britain's Got Talent shocked a shop assistant when he pulled her shirt aside to look at the tattoo over her right breast, a court heard yesterday.

The 23-year-old woman told magistrates that her 'stomach turned' when John Gough, 76, reached forward to touch her in full view of other customers and staff as he paid for petrol at the Gloucester store.

"I felt quite overwhelmed and emotional," she said in evidence at Cheltenham Magistrates Court.

She could not continue working and she rang her mum and 'burst into tears' as she told her what had happened, she said.

Mr Gough, of Hawthorne Avenue, Gloucester, accepted that his actions amounted to a common assault but denied the only charge he was facing - that of sexual assault on the woman on November 22nd last year

The driving school boss, who holds records for economical long-distance driving on minimal amounts of fuel, told the court he barely touched the woman and had no sexual motive whatever for his actions.

He said he had simply been intrigued by the writing tattooed on her chest but could only see a few of the letters and thought they said 'red.'

CCTV of the incident was played to the court. It showed him queueing to pay for fuel and, as he did so, suddenly putting his hand on the shoulder of the woman in front of him for no apparent reason.

He then walked forward to the alleged victim's till and could be seen almost immediately reaching out to the woman's chest area with his left hand. It was clear in the video that her own hands did not leave the counter.

Mr Gough claimed she had moved her polo shirt aside herself so he could read the rest of her tattoo - but the CCTV clearly showed that did not happen and he said he could not understand why not.

The magistrates said they believed the woman's account of what happened, but could not be sure beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Gough's actions were sexually motivated.

"She said he took hold of her polo shirt and pulled it across to reveal her skin - the CCTV revealed he did," said court chairman Andrew Tabor.

"He denied touching her at all although grudgingly admitted he might have flicked her clothing. He claimed she opened her shirt to show the tattoo even though CCTV evidence showed her hands not to leave her till.

"We are satisfied he did indeed touch her to reveal her tattoo. That action could be perceived to be sexual but we are not convinced that the purpose was sexual."

All of which meant Mr Gough was found not guilty of sexual assault and facing no charges of common assault was able to leave the court.

Mr Gough appeared on Britain's Got Talent in May last year and set a world record by reciting the alphabet backwards in four seconds. He also tried to set a new record for telling the most jokes in one minute but dried up and fell well short of his 27 joke target.

In 2003 Mr Gough went into the Guinness Book of Records for driving a Toyota Yaris 28 miles on just one litre of fuel.