A police investigation into the sale of Angela Rayner's former council house is set to conclude before the election.

And The Times reports Labour is increasingly confident the deputy leader will be cleared.

Rayner has faced questions over where she lived in the 2010 and the sale of the property.

However an announcement on her fate is expected within the week.

Rayner's allies hope Greater Manchester Police will issue a public statement so questions about the house sale do not loom over her campaign for re-election, The Times says.

Detectives are said to have focused on whether Rayner gave false information for the electoral register when she split her time between two former council houses in the 2010s.

She is accused of potential breaches of the Representation of the People Act 1983.

However, GMP is unlikely to send a file to the Crown Prosecution Service as charges must be brought within 12 months of the alleged offence.

Officers are looking into several allegations, beyond electoral offences, and have reportedly not ruled out referrals to agencies such as HMRC.

Rayner hsa said she primarily lived in her own home, on Vicarage Road, Stockport, while her husband and father of two her her three children, lived a mile away.

According to The Times, former neighbours said she lived with her husband and children. While a political aide is said to have given a statement to GMP.

There has been questions over whether she failed to pay capital gains tax as well as the council tax arrangements as neighbours reportedly claimed her brother lived there.

Rayner has been under investigation for six weeks.

Previously her spokesman said she “looks forward to sitting down with the appropriate authorities, including the police and HMRC, to set out the facts and draw a line under this matter”.

Labour has refused to say whether a formal interview has taken place. While The Times says detectives first sent her a series of written questions.

She promised to resign if she is found to have committed a crime but has said legal and tax advisers were confident she had done nothing wrong.

Last week Stephen Watson, chief constable of GMP, defended the decision to investigate Rayner and said the force would not get drawn into “political spats”. He added that “we should just simply play that stuff with a straight bat”.

In recent years inquires into politicians have been affected by purdah. However, criminal investigations can continue during the run-up to an election.

A Labour spokesman said: “Angela has been clear that she will co-operate with any investigation. We do not plan to give a running commentary. We remain completely confident that Angela has complied with the rules at all times and it’s now appropriate to let the police do their work.”