A BAN on reporting the court case of former Essex County Council leader Lord Hanningfield is to be challenged.

Newspapers are set to argue for the right to report on a court hearing of Lord Hanningfield – real name Paul White – and three former Labour MPs who are all accused of fiddling their expenses and could face up to seven years in jail if convicted.

White, 69, and the former Labour MPs Jim Devine, David Chaytor, and Elliot Morley, are set to appear in court in May.

They all deny any wrong-doing.

The four will argue they cannot be put on trial because they are protected by parliamentary privilege.

But the hearing cannot be reported unless legal restrictions under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act are lifted.

Media groups are to lodge a challenge with the courts, arguing the hearing is in the public interest and that reporting on it would not bias the jury.

Mark Spragg, of Keystone Law, is representing White.

He would not comment on whether his client would oppose the attempt to get the restrictions lifted, but said it was an important issue.

He said: “We feel the reporting restrictions are a big issue which ought to be raised at a hearing of their own.

“Whether they should be lifted should be dealt with at a completely separate hearing.”

White appeared at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in March and denied six counts of making dishonest claims for travelling allowance.

The charges relate to 13 times when he allegedly claimed House of Lords expenses for overnight stays in London, but was driven to his house in Chelmsford.