A FORMER British diplomat charged with contempt of court after blogging about the Alex Salmond trial has raised more than £46,000 towards his legal defence fund.

Craig Murray has had donations from at least 2205 people and said he was “very grateful” to each of them.

READ MORE: Blogger charged with contempt of court over Alex Salmond trial

The fund hit its halfway target of £30,000 in 16 hours after launching last week and has now surpassed £46,002.

The former first minister Alex Salmond was cleared of all 13 sexual assault charges he faced after a two-week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Murray had attended two days of the trial in the public gallery and produced blogs of the proceedings on both. The former ambassador to Uzbekistan had been declined access as a member of the media.