A MAN has admitted disposing of the body of murdered bomb disposal expert Mark Manning.

Colin Gale - who is accused of killing Mr Manning, of Lancing, yesterday admitted preventing the lawful burial of his body.

Father-of-two Mr Manning was last seen in April 2014.

He was missing for more than two years before his remains were found in undergrowth near Slaugham in Mid Sussex last May.

Gale, 40, of Offington Lane, Worthing, denies murder.

His trial is due to open at Lewes Crown Court today and last for four weeks.

A second man, Stewart Robertson, 50, of St Aubyns Road, Portslade, will stand alongside him in the dock also charged with preventing the lawful burial of Mr Manning's body - which he denies.

Mr Manning, of Brighton Road, Lancing, worked for the Mines Advisory Group (Mag), a charity backed by Diana, Princess of Wales, which removes landmines and other hazards in some of the world's poorest countries.

He was last seen on April 19, 2014, when he was reported to have been taken to Worthing train station by a friend - but no CCTV footage showed him at the station.

He was reported missing three days later by relatives who said his disappearance was completely out of character.

After his disappearance Mark's brother Russell Manning said: "We love and miss you.

"We are a close family and he always kept in touch even when he was working in war zones."

Police repeatedly said that Mr Manning's family were "clinging to hope he was still out there" but investigators "feared the worst" from very early in the investigation - and upgraded his disappearance to a murder investigation in June 2014.

The case against Gale and Robertson will start today (TUES).