A driving instructor who sexually assaulted 14 of his students during their lessons has been jailed.

Neil Addison, 55, of Cupar, Fife, has been sentenced to four years in jail for groping a series of young women.

An investigation began into Addison after two sisters came forward accusing him of sexual assaults.

One of them said she and her sister reported him to police following her final lesson in August 2017, after which she left his car in tears after the horrific attack.

The teenager, now 18, told the jury Addison touched her "just above the knee" during early lessons before moving on to her upper thigh as time went on.

During that final two-hour session, he had gone as far as putting his hand between her upper thighs, touching against her private parts.

Sheriff Tom Hughes also placed Mr Addison on the sex offenders' register.

He said: "They looked to you to guide them paid you good money to do so. You took advantage of each and every one.

"The evidence suggests you were grooming them - on the girls' lessons you were friendly and pleasant and as time passed you took more and more advantage of them.

"It is noteworthy that over time that your assaults escalated and became more and more serious."

He added: "When you saw the last complainer crying you said not to say anything about it as it would affect your career.

"You show no remorse and don't accept the harm you caused.

"Your victims can take great pride that they gave evidence in a dignified manner and the jury believed each and every one of them."

Addison said he put his hand between the girl's thighs during a reversing manoeuvre and it "may have slipped".

The victim said he then reached over before putting his hand down her top and grabbing her left breast.

Police interviewed him and seized records of his other previous students before making contact with them.

They were not told of the nature of the inquiry but all said they had been touched by him.

Sheriff Tom Hughes said: "They were paying you good money to help them and you were abusing the situation you found yourself in.

"You seemed to groom these young women.

"It's very gratifying to know they were able to alert police to this to ensure it didn't escalate.

"Heaven knows what could have happened had this gone untraced."

The victim said: "I was driving with one hand and trying to push him away.

"At one point the side of his hand had been in my crotch. He was then pinging my waistband.

"When I got out of the car he said 'don't tell anyone about this'."

Another girl told the court Addison had repeatedly brushed his hands over her breast after telling her she had hair on her.

Two other girls told how over the course of a series of lessons, Addison had started out touching them on the knee before gripping the tops of their thighs after becoming more "comfortable".

Another victim said she had refused to get back in a car with him after the first time he touched her.

Others said they only persisted with their lessons with him because they had already booked their driving tests and paid for blocks of lessons.