An Australian pensioner subjected four young girls to an "entrenched pattern of sustained sexual abuse" which began more than 60 years ago, a London court has heard.

Reginald Davies, 78, denies 16 offences against the children, including several counts of raping a child under 12, over a 24-year period.

With the earliest allegation dating back more than 62 years to 1949, it is thought to be one of the oldest historic criminal cases in UK legal history.

The elderly Welshman, who was extradited from Australia last September, abused girls as young as eight in Abertridwr, near Caerphilly in South Wales, a jury at Kingston Crown Court heard.

After lavishing the girls with attention and "testing the water" by asking them for a kiss, he would touch their legs, the court heard.