The identities of dozens of well-known figures linked  to Jeffrey Epstein have been revealed in court papers unsealed in the US overnight.

The files are part of a defamation case brought against Epstein's madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in jail for sex trafficking underage girls to him.

She was sued by Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York three times in 2001 when she was 17 - claims the duke vehemently denies.

High-profile people such as Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Al Gore, Kevin Spacey and Stephen Hawking were all included in evidence filings. 

Actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz and Bruce Willis are in there along with model Naomi Campbell. None of them have been accused of any involvement in Epstein's crimes, but Epstein was a name-dropper, Johanna Sjoberg claimed in evidence released overnight. Ms Sjoberg was clear that she had never met them. 

Also mentioned are the late physicist Stephen Hawking and magician David Copperfield. 

Some of the people named overnight were associates, friends or victims of Epstein. But the vast majority were named in evidence by witnesses who said they had no links to the paedophile at all - or had not seen them at his many homes.

The identities of more than 170 people are now set to be made public following a US judge's order last month, with the first tranche of documents released last night.