Former home secretary Charles Clarke has described how he faced false rumours that he was having an affair with his "blonde, attractive" special adviser.

The politician told jurors at the Old Bailey that he "wouldn't dream" of having a sexual relationship with his former aide, Hannah Pawlby, and said he had threatened to sue the Sun for libel if it ran such a story.

Prosecutors allege that journalists at the News of the World (NoW) accessed Pawlby's voicemails in 2005 after hearing a rumour that the pair were having an affair.