A police officer from Stevenage has been remanded in custody after being charged with rape.

PC David Carrick, 46, is accused of raping a woman he met on a dating app Tinder.

Carrick appeared at St Albans Crown Court on Monday morning in the first procedural hearing of this case via videolink from Stevenage police station.

The court heard Carrick is alleged to have taken the woman back to a Premier Inn after visiting two pubs in St Albans.

The serving Met Police officer has worked in the Houses of Parliament and diplomatic command unit. He is currently suspended from duty.

The officer 'emphatically denies' assaulting the woman.

The chief magistrate Paul Goldspring, who appeared via video link from Westminster magistrates court, remanded Carrick in custody.

He is next due to appear at St Albans Crown Court in November.