British girls assaulted in school trip hostel

Three British schoolgirls were assaulted by a man who went into the hostel room in France where they were sleeping, it was reported today.

The 24-year-old is believed to have gone into the room occupied by the 13 and 14-year-olds in the early hours of the morning, newspaper reports said.

He caressed two of the girls’ necks and a hand of the third, before the fourth screamed.

The alleged incident happened between 4am and 6am on Sunday at the Pinede Youth Hostel in Saint-Brevin, on the west coast of France, the reports said.

Police said the man, who was arrested, obtained a key from a male member of staff and spent up to half an hour inside the hostel, which was occupied by pupils from South Devon.

A man was later detained, put under examination for sexual assault, and then bailed after a brief court appearance – the first step towards formal charges in France.

Saint-Brevin is only a few miles from Pleine-Fougeres, where 13-year-old Caroline Dickinson was raped and murdered in 1996.

She was in a party of 40 pupils and five teachers staying at a youth hostel.

In 2004 Francisco Arce Montes, then 54, a former waiter from northern Spain, was sentenced to 30 years for the murder.