THE daughter of shamed Hampshire politician Chris Huhne fought off a sex attacker.

Lydia Huhne was pounced on by an unlicensed cabbie that locked the car doors, climbed in the back and touched her breast.

But the 24-year-old actress managed to escape, head-butting him and screaming at him that she had a knife until he let her out of the car.

She had got into the taxi on her way home from a nightclub close to her London home in the early hours of Sunday morning, but a short distance down the road he stopped the car and locked the doors.

Lydia, who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and now jointly runs a theatre company, said her quick thinking was down to having done fight scenes in plays.

She said she wanted to speak out after the attack because she wanted to raise awareness of the dangers of taking unlicensed taxis. She now calls for self-defence to be taught in schools.

Miss Huhne said: "There has been so much publicity around my family and it's been negative, so I wanted to use this horrible experience to raise awareness and turn it into something positive."

Scotland Yard said it is investigating an allegation of sexual assault by touching in Lambeth borough.

A spokesman said: "The allegation relates to an incident in Lambeth in the early hours of Sunday, February 9.

"The incident is being invested by the sexual offences team based within the MPS Safer Transport Command."

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, Lydia's parents former Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce were last year sent to jail for perverting the course of justice.

Pryce, 61, revealed that she had accepted speeding points on behalf of the Liberal Democrat, who was also cabinet member for energy and climate change.

The pair was released after just eight weeks of their eight-month sentences and was both criticised for seeming to show no remorse.