A police constable is among 16 men to appear in court accused of offences relating to alleged historic child sexual exploitation.

Amjad Hussain, 35, wore a dark navy suit during a plea hearing at Bradford Crown Court on this morning.

West Yorkshire Police have previously said that he is a police constable based within their protective services operations.

Hussain, who has also been known by the surname Ditta, has been suspended from duty, a force spokesman has previously said. He has carried out work in Bradford in recent years.

He was not required to enter a plea to a single charge of sexual touching when he appeared in court on Monday, but 13 of his co-accused entered not guilty pleas to all the charges that they face.

The charges they face relate to the alleged abuse of three teenage girls in Halifax between 2006 and 2009.

The alleged victims were aged between 13 and 16 at the time.

The offence Hussain stands accused of is said to have taken place in 2009, when he was a serving officer.

He and his co-defendants, who are all from Halifax, were given bail and a provisional trial date was set for September 14.

Those who entered not guilty pleas today were: - Mohammed Vaqaas Abbas, 30, who denied three counts of rape and three of supplying a class C drug - Nadeem Adalat, 34, who pleaded not guilty to four charges of rape and four of supply of a class C drug - Sajid Adalat, 44, who denies rape - Waseem Adalat, 33, denied two counts of rape, as well as single counts of trafficking, supply of a class C drug and common assault.

- Christopher Eastwood, 45, who pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape and two counts of supply of a class C drug - Mahtab Islam, 46, denied six counts of rape, three of supplying a class A drug, three of supplying a class C drug, two of sexual assault and one of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice - Mohammed Rizwan Iqbal, 34, denied a charge of rape - Ishtiaq Latif, 32, pleaded not guilty to sexual activity with a child - Asad Mahmood, 33, denies two counts of rape, one of trafficking and one of common assault - Younis Mohammed, 34, pleaded not guilty to rape and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent - Shahzad Nowaz, 40, has denied rape, supply of a class C drug and making threats to kill - Shazad Nazir, 44, pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape and two of supply of a class C drug - Sohail Zafar, 36, denied rape and supplying a class C drug.

As well as Hussain, Nadeem Nassir, 39, who faces charges of rape, supplying a class C drug and making threats to kill, did not enter any pleas.

Khalifa Mughal, 36, was also not arraigned.

He faces six counts of rape, as well as single counts of supply of a class C drug, supply of a class A drug and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.