A 40-year-old Devonshire man charged with incest told Police nothing improper took place when he awoke his daughter in the early hours of the morning to rub his neck and back, a Supreme Court jury heard yesterday.

The father of three, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has denied charges of attempted incest and sexually exploiting his daughter on April 3, 1996 in Somerset.

On Monday, the six-man, six-woman jury heard from the man's wife and their 13-year-old daughter.

The girl told Police that she fell asleep in her father's bed and awoke later to find him on top of her.

She said her father pulled down her underwear and rubbed himself against her.

The girl told Police that her father kissed her on her neck and told her she felt as "beautiful and nice'' as her mother.

Yesterday, P.c. Meredith Brady told the court that the defendant denied the accusations against him during a statement to Police.

He said he went into his daughter's bedroom around 2.30 a.m. and awoke her because he was feeling sick and wanted her to rub his neck and back.

"I felt that if she rubbed me down I would fall off to sleep,'' he said.

The man said they went into his bedroom where the youngster rubbed his neck and back.

He said the girl then got up from the bed and went to the bathroom and when she returned she laid down beside him.

P.c. Brady said the man told her that he hugged his daughter while her back was turned to her -- they were both lying on their left sides.

He said he escorted his daughter back into her bedroom about ten minutes later because she said she was tired.

The man claimed the accusations were the result of his separation from his wife and suggested that she and her family had "put words'' into the child's mouth.

"I love my daughter,'' he told Police. "I would never do that to her.'' Dr. Keith Cunningham testified that an examination of the four-foot, six-inch tall girl revealed that she had sustained a frictional injury to the groin.

But he said he found no evidence of penetration.

Under cross examination by defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher, Dr.

Cunningham said he could not say what caused the frictional injury to the girl.

The trial continues today before Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux.