Ken Clarke denies 'preposterous' claims he sexually assaulted young actor

Ben Fellows is on trial over alleged false statements to the police

Mr Clark said he became aware of the allegations after his son saw them online (Getty)

Ken Clarke, the former chancellor, has said claims he sexually assaulted a young actor are "preposterous".

Giving evidence at the trial of Ben Fellows, who is accused of perverting the course of justice by making false claims against the MP, Mr Clarke denied the claims.

Mr Clarke insisted he did not know Mr Greer and said he had not visited his Westminster office.

Mr Fellows alleged Clarke plied him with alcohol and assaulted him in the office of political lobbyist Ian Greer in 1994, while he was undercover as part of a cash-for-questions investigation for ITV's The Cook Report.

The story appeared in national newspapers and online after Mr Fellows made the allegations to the media in the autumn of 2012, jurors were told.

He went on to make a statement to police after being interviewed by officers as part of Operation Fairbank, the investigation into historical claims of Westminster child sex abuse.

"It was quite a detailed allegation about place, incident - nothing to do with me," Mr Clarke told the court.

"Apparently, while Chancellor of the Exchequer, I was hanging around the office of Ian Greer and groped a man."

Mr Clarke, the MP for Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, said the claims were "like Martians landing".

"It's preposterous. It's off the Richter scale," he said.

Mr Clarke said he became aware of the allegations before the police contacted him in 2013 after his son saw them online.

"I was first alerted by my son who uses the internet and he spotted somebody called Ben Fellows was making rather nasty allegations against me on the internet, which upset my son and upset me as well," he said.

"My staff made attempts to get it taken down but it was hopeless."

The trial continues.

(Additional reporting by agencies)