FOUR men from the Bradford district have pleaded not guilty to historic sexual offences against a West Yorkshire schoolgirl.

The Bradford men are among 25 charged with alleged offences against the teenager.

Today, 18 of them appeared for a plea and case management hearing at Leeds Crown Court, where 15 pleaded not guilty. The charges were not put to three of them at the request of their counsel.

Yesterday, six others had denied charges against her during another hearing.

One man from Halifax has also denied an offence against a second girl, the only charge involving her.

The defendants have been split into groups and at least four separate trials are due to be held next year. A court order is in place preventing publication of the full addresses of any defendants.

During today's proceedings, Mohammed Ramzan, 34, from Bradford, denied trafficking the schoolgirl complainant for sexual exploitation on April 11, 2011 by arranging or facilitating travel within the UK.

He also denied raping her between April 10 and April 13, 2011 and conspiring with Khalid Zaman to engage in sexual activity with a child.

Zaman, 37, also from Bradford, denied conspiracy with Ramzan to engage in sexual activity. He also pleaded not guilty to two charges of raping the girl on April 12, 2011 and supplying her with the drug mephedrone on April 11 that year.

Mohammed Janjuha, 34, from Bradford, pleaded not guilty to raping the girl between July 20, 2009 and 21 July, 2011.

They are due to be among defendants in the third trial next year.

Meanwhile, Arshad Majid, 25, from Shipley, and Christopher Mulqueen Bennett, 36 of Gwent, Newport have each pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual activity with a child between July 20, 2009 and July 21, 2011.

Charges were not put to three men, including Mohammed Askar 32, from Bradford.

Furqaan Ghafar, 30 from Derby denied sexual activity with a child between February 22, 2011 and April 6, 2011in Bradford.

Many of the other defendants are from the Halifax area.

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said two days had been fixed in August this year for a ground rules hearing, when questions would be agreed for cross-examination of the complainant before the videoing of that cross-examination takes place in September.

The evidence of child or vulnerable complainants has been recorded on video to be played as their evidence in chief at trial for several years and Leeds Crown Court is currently one of the centres piloting a new system where the cross-examination is also carried out and videod in advance of a trial.

The defendants were granted conditional bail until the next hearing in August.