THE former West Midlands UKIP MEP Nikki Sinclaire is standing trial today charged with misconduct in public office and associated money laundering.

The long-awaited trial, Ms Sinclaire was arrested in 2012 and charged in 2014, centres around alleged expenses fraud in the year after her election to the European Parliament in 2009.

Ms Sinclaire, aged 47, was arrested alongside three members of her staff, who were not subsequently charged, when 27 police officers swooped on her home and office.

The trial at Birmingham Crown Court is scheduled for three weeks after Ms Sinclaire pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Ms Sinclaire, aged 47, said: “I worked tirelessly in my role as an MEP to serve my constituents and am devastated that I have had to face these allegations.

"My life has been blighted by the case which, through no fault of my making, has taken far too long to resolve."

She added: "Thankfully, I finally have the opportunity clear my name and rebuild my life.”

A spokesman for Ms Sinclaire's solicitors Cartwright King said: "A report from an independent forensic accountant demonstrates that the value of the amount claimed, over that which she was entitled to, was €3,800 (£3000).

"The prosecution have previously quoted figures for the value of the case which include sums by way of the MEP’s daily subsistence allowance that there can be no question she was entitled to receive."

Ms Sinclaire, a former Halesowen resident who stood for Parliament for UKIP in Halesowen and Rowley Regis in 2005, left UKIP in 2010 and formed the We Want A Referendum Party which helped launch the petition which triggered the Parliamentary debate on holding Thursday's historic vote.