Former Number 10 spin doctor Andy Coulson, from Kent, and ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, from Oxfordshire, have arrived at court for the first day of their trial over charges linked to phone hacking and alleged corrupt payments to public officials.

They each faced a throng of journalists as they came to the Old Bailey, where it is expected that jury selection could take place for the trial that may last up to six months.

Brooks, 45, of Churchill, Oxfordshire, and Coulson, 45, from Preston in Kent, are both accused of conspiracy to intercept communications in the course of their transmission.