FORMER News International chief executive editor Rebekah Brooks was formally charged with phone hacking tonight and will appear in court next month.

Brooks, 44, who lives in Sarsden, near Chipping Norton, answered bail at Lewisham police station in London and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, September 3.

Six other journalists from the now closed News of the World , including Andy Coulson, the former spokesman for Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron and an ex-editor of the Sunday newspaper, have been officially charged and will appear at the same court on Thursday, August 16.

The seven stand accused of a general charge of alleged phone hacking between October 2000 and August 2006, that could involve as many as 600 victims.

Brooks, who edited both the News of the World and The Sun before becoming chief executive of their publisher, and Coulson both face specific charges of illegally accessing the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

In a statement issued last month, Brooks insisted she was innocent, adding: "The charge concerning Milly Dowler is particularly upsetting, not only as it is untrue but also because I have spent my journalistic career campaigning for victims of crime. I will vigorously defend these allegations."

Brooks is already facing three charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, linked to the investigation into phone hacking.

She and five others, including her 49-year-old racehorse trainer husband Charlie, who faces one charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, are due to appear at Southwark Crown Court in London on Wednesday, September 26.