The British spy behind a notorious 'dirty dossier' on Donald Trump's links to Russia is being sued by three oligarchs in the High Court.

Former MI6 man Christopher Steele's report on the newly elected US President in 2017 alleged he was in Vladimir Putin's pocket and claimed he threw an orgy with prostitutes on a Moscow trip.

Mr Trump called it 'fake news' and blasted Mr Steele as a 'failed spy'. Now the 55-year-old is being sued in London by three Russians named in the file and has been asked to back up the accuracy of his dossier.

They want him to pay damages and tell the world his report was inaccurate.

The trio - banker Peter Aven, billionaire financier Mikhail Fridman and oil tycoon German Khan - deny his claims that they did Putin's bidding. 

Before a hearing last month, father of three Mr Steele suggested he would barely answer any questions, claiming it would identify his sources.

He argued his dossier was reporting what he was told and was not definitive truth.