Eastleigh MP in court today

Former energy secretary Chris Huhne and his ex-wife have appeared in court charged with perverting the course of justice.

Mr Huhne allegedly persuaded his former partner Vicky Pryce to take his penalty points for a speeding offence almost a decade ago.

She entered a plea of not guilt to the charge at Southwark Crown Court today, and it is understood that she will use the defence of marital coercion. Mr Huhne did not enter a plea.

Mr Huhne, 57, who remains the Lib Dem MP for his home town of Eastleigh in Hampshire, stood down from the Cabinet to fight the claims he wrongly told investigators his wife was driving his car.

Meridian's Political Correspondent Phil Hornby understands that Mr Huhne, from Dutton Lane, Eastleigh has made an application to have the case against him dismissed.

The events which led to the charges date back to March 2003, when Mr Huhne's car was allegedly caught by a speed camera on the motorway between Stansted Airport in Essex and London.

But accusations of impropriety only emerged in 2010, after the father-of-five admitted an affair with PR adviser Carina Trimingham and ended his 26-year marriage.

Perverting the course of justice carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.