A court in New York has ordered that thousands of pages of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell be unsealed, rejecting Ms Maxwell's attempts to ensure the papers remain hidden.

The documents relate to a 2015 defamation suit filed by Virginia Giuffre against Ms Maxwell, 57, the former girlfriend of Epstein, 66, who was said by Epstein's employees to run his household.

The documents state: "It is an Undisputed Fact That Multiple Witnesses Deposed in This Case Have Testified That Defendant (Maxwell) Operated as Convicted Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Procurer of Underage Girls."

They continue: "It is an undisputed fact that Defendant is unable to garner a single witness throughout discovery who can testify that she did not act as the procurer of underage girls and young women for Jeffrey Epstein."