A 22 year-old man has been charged in Australia, accused of holding a British backpacker hostage for two months.

The 22 year-old woman had initially agreed to join the man on a road trip, but says he subjected her to a series of violent assaults.

She was rescued when the vehicle they were traveling in was stopped by police in Queensland after they failed to pay for fuel. 

The man appeared in court today  facing four charges of rape, eight of assault occasioning bodily harm, four of strangulation, two of wilful damage and two of deprivation of liberty.

Inspector Paul Hart says the suspect was hidden under a load of clothes in the car the woman was driving on Sunday: