‘Taxi driver told me I was lovely and offered me a pill’

A woman today told a court that she found two buttons were missing from her coat the morning after she was driven home by a taxi driver who plied her with champagne.

The 29-year-old journalist is one of 14 alleged victims of licensed black cab driver John Worboys, of Rotherhithe, who is accused of 23 crimes including one rape and a string of sex assaults.

The woman told Croydon crown court she ­suffered memory loss after the journey in November, 2006.

Worboys, 51, told her he had won £70,000 at a casino and asked her if she would like a glass of champagne. He is accused of drugging her to have sex with her.

She told the court she remembered driving over Battersea Bridge on the way to her home in Balham. She said: "He gave me at least one cigarette, maybe two. He offered me a second glass of champagne, but it was late and I wanted to get back."

She said it started "to get a bit sketchy" adding: "I was feeling drowsy. I remember lying down on the back seat and the driver was talking to me, but not in a conversational way, saying, you seem like a really nice girl ...you're really lovely'."

She said the driver offered her a tablet that looked like a paracetamol. She did not take it.

She woke up at lunchtime the next day fully clothed and was later given a morning-after pill by a doctor. She did not go to police until she read about a similar incident. "There was no doubt in my mind it was the same person," she said.

Worboys denies the charges. The trial continues.