A 71-year-old woman was punched in the face before being sexually assaulted in her car by an alleged serial rapist, a court has heard.

Joseph McCann, 34, allegedly kidnapped the pensioner as she was about to drive out of a supermarket car park shortly after 1pm on May 5, it is claimed.

She was then driven to an industrial estate car park where he allegedly raped her, the Old Bailey heard.

McCann, of Harrow, is accused of abducting, raping and holding prisoner a string of alleged victims aged 11 to 71 across London, Watford and the north west of England between April 20 and May 5.

He is on trial having denied 37 charges relating to 11 alleged victims.

In a police interview played to a jury on Monday, the 71-year-old woman said she had finished shopping at Morrisons when McCann allegedly approached her car.

"He got into the passenger seat. I shouted, 'Get out, get out' and that is when he punched me in the face," she told Greater Manchester Police.

"He said, 'I don't want to do that, I have got a grandma'.

"He said he wanted a lift. He said, 'I don't want to hurt you. I have got a knife. I have killed somebody'."

The woman, who said she had been to church that morning, claimed she initially drove on the M66 motorway, but said she was made to switch seats with McCann as he wanted to buy cigarettes.

After they stopped at a service station, the alleged victim said she was driven to the entrance of an industrial estate.

"He got a bottle of wine out from my car and was drinking that while driving," the woman said.

"We got into this car park and he said, 'We'll have sex now whilst we are waiting'."

The woman claimed she was made to partially undress and forced to perform a sex act on McCann.

"At some point he threw my phone into the undergrowth," the woman said.

He later drove them to a cash machine where he used her bank card to withdraw money, before meeting with a group of "youngsters", the woman claimed.

She was then made to get in the driver's seat again, while a "little girl" got into the back seat with McCann, the court heard.

The woman said she was ordered to drive to Manchester, but said that because McCann was "messing about" he was not looking where they were going.

She told police she drove in the wrong direction, and eventually pulled up to a service station as they were running low on fuel.

As she got out of the car, McCann "woke up" and ran after her, the woman alleged.

She told police that the girl in the back seat also ran out, while McCann allegedly grabbed the car keys and drove off at around 6pm.

The trial continues.