FORMER council leader and Labour Party candidate for St Helens South Marie Rimmer is due in court in Scotland next Thursday (March 19) to face a charge of assault.

The West Park councillor denies assaulting a woman at a Glasgow polling station as she and Labour Party colleagues campaigned for a NO vote in the Scottish referendum for independence.

The 67-year-old is due to stand trial at Glasgow's Sherriff's Court who has the powers to pass sentences of a maximum of 12 months.

It comes less than two months before the general election even though the Labour Party said although they were looking "very seriously at the allegations" they would be standing by their candidate.

The alleged assault is said to have happened at Shettleston Community Centre in Glasgow at about 1pm on Thursday, September 18. Rimmer was arrested at the scene by police and the allegations swiftly circulated on social media, leading to regional and national newspapers picking up the story.