A 74-year-old man has denied the charges of more than 20 counts of historical crimes included rape and false imprisonment.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, of Latymer Road, Edmonton pleaded not guilty to 19 counts of indecent assault, four counts of rape, one count of false imprisonment and one count of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 at Southwark Crown Court last week.

Balakrishnan was charged in December last year with 19 counts of indecent assault between 1980 and 1992 and four counts of rape between 1980 and 1983

He is also accused of false imprisonment of a woman between January 6, 1999, and October 26, 2013.

Balakrishnan was arrested in Lambeth, south London, in November 2013.

He was bailed to return to court for a pre-trial hearing on September 23.