The parents of the Muslim convert known as "Jihadi Jack" are due to stand trial in January next year.

John Letts and Sally Lane are accused of sending hundreds of pounds to 20-year-old Jack Letts, who is believed to have joined Islamic State in 2014.

Letts, 55, and his 54-year-old wife, from Oxford, appeared at the Old Bailey on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

He wore a grey suit, blue shirt and tie, and she wore a floral print dress. Both spoke only to confirm their details.

Mr Justice Saunders set a trial date of January 9 2017 at a London court, which is expected to last up to four weeks.

Letts and Lane are charged with three counts of funding terrorism by allegedly sending their son £223 on September 2 last year, £1,000 on December 31 2015 and £500 on January 4 2016.

Lane is also charged with two counts of allegedly attempting to send two payments of £500 on January 4 2016.

Jack Letts was suspected of being the first white Briton to join the terror group after he left his Oxford home and travelled to war-ravaged Syria in 2014.

The 20-year-old reportedly goes by the name Abu Mohammed and married an Iraqi woman with whom he has a son, Muhammed.

His parents, of Chilswell Road, Oxford, were both released on bail and ordered to appear for a plea hearing on November 17 at the Old Bailey.