A date has been set for the trial of Southampton FC manager Dave Jones, who is charged with a string of child abuse offences.

The former Everton defender denies the allegations. He faces a total of 13 charges in relation to his time as a care worker at a Merseyside children's home.

The father-of-four did not enter a plea when he appeared at a 20-minute hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday. He faces six indecent assault charges, six of assault and a further charge relating to a serious sexual offence on a boy aged 16 or under.

The 43-year-old was given conditional bail. He must live at his home address in Southampton and not approach any witnesses. The case was adjourned and a trial date was set for 27 November.

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Body 'could be stowaway'

The body of a man found in the sea may be that of a stowaway who jumped ship on Christmas Eve.

His remains were found off Brixham breakwater in Devon and taken to a hospital mortuary, said a spokesman for Devon and Cornwall police.

The body may be that of one of two Sierra Leone stowaways who went missing from a cargo ship, he added. The men, in their thirties, had been seen aboard the Libyan-registered Ebn Batuta as she sheltered in Torbay.

A search was launched after coastguards were told they had gone missing. One man was briefly spotted by the crew of a rescue helicopter.

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Yellow card over blue language

Footballers have been told to tone down their language after a protest by the Mormon church which owns their ground.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were fed up of hearing the foul language drifting from the side lines and pitch of the nearby ground at Maidstone United.

Club chairman Paul Bowden-Brown, said they were more than happy to comply with the request.

He said: "There isn't a clause in the contract but the last thing you want to do is upset your landlord, so I have stamped swearing out at the club."

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MPs left speechless by rat

The House of Commons was thrown into a temporary state of confusion when an uninvited guest made an appearance on the floor - a brown rat.

The rodent interrupted committee stage debate on the Disqualifications Bill, which will allow members of the Irish Parliament to stand for election to the House of Commons.

Tory Graham Brady, who was in the middle of berating ministers for trying to rush the Bill through all its Commons stages in just two days when the animal appeared, joked: "I've been advancing the argument that I smell a rat in this legislation."

Deputy Speaker Michael Lord interrupted: "There are some things in this Chamber that the Chair cannot control and I suggest we just carry on with the debate in the usual way."