Disgraced former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been ordered to pay £150,000 towards the cost of the hacking trial.

Coulson, who moved from London to Kent amid the scandal, appeared at the Old Bailey to fight a prosecution application for him to pay £750,000 towards the £1.7m trial.

The former Number 10 spin doctor was jailed last year for conspiring to intercept the phones of various personalities while working at the tabloid.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Saunders ordered him to pay £150,000 over the course of three years.

Last July, Coulson was sentenced to 18 months after being found guilty of plotting to listen to the private voicemails of celebrities and crime victims.

He served less than five months and was released in November.

Mr Justice Saunders said Coulson's finances had been seriously affected by both the hacking trial and his subsequent perjury trial, which collapsed.

He has been working on a freelance basis since January 2011, but has now launched a business with his wife.

The court was told Coulson had sold his London home and moved to a cheaper house in Charing, Ashford, before moving to a house in Preston near Canterbury.

The judge described his home as a "substantial property" with £550,000 in equity, half of which was Coulson's.

He also has assets of more than £22,000, but liabilities of £50,000 including loans to fund his children's private education.

Mr Justice Saunders said Coulson was "well off" compared to most of the population, and capable of earning a lot of money on the labour market.