EASTLEIGH MP Chris Huhne and his ex-wife are due to stand trial today over claims she took speeding points for him so he could avoid prosecution.

The former Cabinet minister and Vicky Pryce were both charged last year with perverting the course of justice over the allegation, said to relate to a speeding offence in 2003.

Pryce previously pleaded not guilty on the grounds of marital coercion and Huhne also entered a not guilty plea to the charge at a hearing last week.

Former Energy Secretary Huhne, 58, of Dutton Lane, Eastleigh, stood down from the Cabinet following the charge last year, but remained the Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh.

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

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

It is alleged that between March 12, 2003, and May 21, 2003, Pryce, 60, of Crescent Grove, Clapham, south London, falsely informed police that she was the driver of the car so Huhne could avoid prosecution.

Both defendants are on bail pending their trial which is due to start at Southwark Crown Court this morning.