A man has appeared in court over allegations that he passed horsemeat off as beef.

Andronicos Sideras, 54, was accused at City of London Magistrates' Court of dishonestly arranging for beef and horsemeat to be combined as beef for sale in the UK's meat industry.

Two other men, Ulrich Nielsen, 57, from Denmark, and Alex Ostler-Beech, 43, from Hull, are expected to be similarly charged at the same court on Tuesday afternoon.

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The men are said to have mixed horsemeat with beef, with the combined product later sold as beef, between January 1 2012 and October 31 that year.

In 2013 UK supermarkets were rocked by the horsemeat contamination crisis, with products being labelled as beef or other meats but found to contain various amounts of horse flesh.

Sideras, of Friars Walk, Southgate, north London, was first arrested and questioned in July 2013 and is charged with conspiracy to defraud following an international investigation led by City of London Police, who worked with the Food Standards Agency.

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He was bailed to appear at Inner London Crown Court on October 25.