A senior councillor will stand trial in the New Year after pleading not guilty to a charge of perverting the course of justice.

Cllr Nilgun Canver, 56, denies attempting to take the blame after her son crashed the family car last January.

Defence lawyer Anya Louise said the St Ann’s ward councillor had “a momentary lapse in the heat of the moment” when she arrived at the scene of the crash and told police she had been driving the car.

A trial date at Wood Green Crown Court was set for 20 January next year.

Cllr Canver, who spoke only to confirm her name and enter her plea, stepped down from her cabinet position on Haringey Borough Council after receiving her court summons in August.

She was suspended from the Labour Party pending the outcome of her trial and was subsequently not renominated for her ward for next year’s council elections.