A physiotherapist from St Albans has been cleared of biting a patient and growling "like a baby lion" after a tribunal found the woman "elaborated" her version of events.

Christopher Lewis reached across the patient and squashed her breasts with his body as she lay on the table during the treatment session, the Health and Care Professions Council heard.

It was the woman's second appointment at the Verulam Clinic in St Albans, where she was seeking help to recover from a shoulder injury.

She had suffered sustained a hairline fracture to her arm and shoulder after she tripped and fell, leaving her "knocked for six".

Giving evidence, the woman said: "I wasn't too sure if it was part of the treatment initially while he was leaning across - it was a very slow leaning across, looking in the eyes the whole time.

"And biting me on my shoulder. There was no way that was a peck or kiss - he had my skin in his teeth and looked at me and shook his head in the same way a cat does when they do a bite.

"It wasn't a lion growl, it was a baby lion growl," she said.

The physiotherapist insisted he did not bite his patient and claimed he brushed her bare shoulder with the "prickly" stubble on his cheek and chin.

The fitness to practice panel cleared Mr Lewis of biting the patient and acting for his own sexual gratification when he treated the woman in May last year.