FORMER energy secretary Chris Huhne's ex-wife yesterday denied perverting the course of justice by taking a speeding penalty for her former husband.

Vicky Pryce pleaded not guilty at Southwark Crown Court, where she appeared alongside the former Cabinet minister.

Huhne, 57, did not enter a plea to a similar charge of perverting the course of justice. His formal reading of the criminal complaint was adjourned for an application to dismiss the charge.

It is alleged Huhne, from Dutton Lane, Eastleigh, Hampshire persuaded Pryce to take his penalty points for a speeding offence almost a decade ago.

His ex-wife's defence will be one of marital coercion.A trial is expected to take place in October.

Pryce, 59, from Crescent Grove, Clapham, south London, was listed in court by her Greek forename Vasiliki.

Huhne, who remains the Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh in Hampshire, stood down from the Cabinet to fight the charge that he wrongly claimed his wife was driving his car.

The events which led to the charges date to March 2003, when Huhne's car was allegedly caught by a motorway speed camera.

Accusations of impropriety emerged only in 2010, after he admitted an affair with PR adviser Carina Trimingham and ended his 26-year marriage.