Former French Prime Minister François Fillon has appeared in court for his role in a “fake jobs” scandal.

He is accused of paying his Welsh wife Penelope hundreds of thousands of euros for work she allegedly never did when employed as his assistant.

Both appeared on Monday, but made no statement. They deny the allegations.

Though the trial was due to start on Monday, the court delayed it until Wednesday, as there is currently a lawyers’ strike in France.

The scandal – dubbed PenelopeGate – began in 2017, when Mr Fillon seemed favourite to win the presidency.

The centre-right candidate’s ratings plummeted after the allegations. Centrist Emmanuel Macron eventually won the election against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.