LondonBurning and Grange Hill star John Alford has been charged with alleged child sex offences.
The 52-year-old was charged with a total of six offences and was arrested earlier this year, the Sun reported.
The actor, whose real name is John Shannon, faces four allegations of sexual activity with a child, one of sexual assault and one of sexual assault by penetration.
He will be tried at St Albans Crown Court in December and a preliminary examination is scheduled for November.
Born in Glasgow, Alford first starred as Robbie Wright in school drama Grange Hill when he was just 13 in 1985.
He landed the role after training at Anna Scher’s drama school in north London alongside Sid Owen And Patsy Palmer who played in EastEndersand appeared briefly in the ITV sitcom Now and Then before joining Grange Hill.
However, he struggled to achieve fame at a young age after leaving school drama at 17, reportedly spending thousands of pounds on alcohol and gambling.
In 1999, he reportedly admitted to drinking up to 18 bottles of beer and nine shots of liquor a night.
He then became a fan favourite when he played firefighter Billy Ray in the ITV drama series London’s Burning from 1993 to 1998.
The father-of-two starred on the show at the height of its popularity, when it attracted more than 18 million viewers a night.
The series became ITV’s third longest-running drama, behind Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
Alford also had several top 40 hits, produced by Stock/Waterman, following his television success.
His first song, Smoke In Your Eyes, reached number 13 in the charts and saw him perform on Top Of The Pops.
He stopped acting for a time, working as a scaffolder and taxi driver, but returned to acting around the turn of the millennium.
Alford appeared in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager and the reality TV show Trust Me: I’m a Beauty Therapist in 2001 and 2003, before landing small roles in Casualty and The Hatton Garden Job.