A CZECH taxi driver spied on two women taking showers as he performed an indecent act, a court has been told.

Michael Kostka is accused of using a reflective drain cover to watch two women while they were showering in an adjoining cubicle at Fort Stamford Health and Fitness Centre, Jennycliff, on December 14 last year.

He appeared at Plymouth Crown Court yesterday for the first day of his trial after denying a charge of voyeurism.

Addressing the jury of four men and eight women, prosecutor Jo Martin described a reflective drain cover sitting between the two showers in which one victim "became aware of a face in that reflective cover.

"She also became aware of slightly unusual movements within the shower," said Miss Martin.

The court was told that Kostka, aged 37, of Mannamead Road, entered the fitness centre after dropping off a fare in Plymstock. The prosecution said he inquired about becoming a member and was about to be shown around the centre when he disappeared.

He went to a shower in the ladies changing area and sat there, watching two women shower for his own sexual gratification, the prosecution told the court.

The court was told by one woman she took a shower in the right cubicle because the left appeared to be closed. When she had finished, another woman began showering in the same cubicle.

"There was a face in the disc (drain cover)," the second woman told the jury.

"It had black hair and a black beard and as I moved away, the face turned around to follow me and I was like 'Oh, it's a man'."

His alleged victim then covered herself in a towel and went into the main changing area and the first woman to shower ran to get some help, said the prosecution.

"When I came out, he was still in the cubicle and when he heard me say it was a man, he came out," she said.

"He was being quite ridiculous really.

"He said he needed a drink and felt ill.

"I thought he was lying. He didn't seem ill."

The court was told Kostka also told the police in interview that he felt unwell and had gone into the changing area, not realising that it was for women.

He had sat in the cubicle because he was aware there were women coming in.

"Was he there because he was unwell and simply went to douse his head or whether he went, as the Crown suggests, there for the purpose of getting some sexual gratification because he was able to observe the two woman showering in the reflective drain cover?" asked Miss Martin.

The trial continues.