An Italian judge today ordered Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and then tried to cover it up.

Judge Cristina Di Censo handed down the judgement in Milan. The trial is set to begin April 6.

Although Mr Berlusconi has stood trial on a number of business-related charges, this will be the first time the 74-year-old billionaire businessman has been tried for personal conduct. He has denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors allege he paid for sex with the Moroccan girl, nicknamed Ruby, then used his influence to get her out of police custody when she was detained for the unrelated suspected theft of €3,000 . They claim that Mr Berlusconi feared her relationship to him would be revealed.

Both Mr Berlusconi and Ruby have denied having sex, although she has said he gave her €7,000 on their first meeting.

Picture shows a protester holding a doll of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a cage during a demonstration called "if not now, when?" organized by Italian women in protest at "degrading" media coverage of the recent sex scandals surrounding Prime Minister Berlusconi -- and attitudes to women in general.

The demo was held last Sunday in the wake of weeks of lurid reporting on the women at the centre of investigations into the embattled leader -- and Berlusconi's own controversial comments in his defence.