Claims that a woman was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 are to be struck from the record of a civil case in the US, a judge has said.

The Duke of York was named in court papers in Florida by a woman alleging financier Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with the duke three times.

But Judge Kenneth Marra said the “lurid” claims were “unnecessary” to decide the civil case.

Buckingham Palace has previously “emphatically” denied the allegations.

BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said Judge Marra had expressed no opinion as to the “validity or veracity” of the allegations.