A 64-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a young British-born child in Australia nearly 50 years ago.

Three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer vanished from a beach in New South Wales in 1970. She was one of four children in a family of six who emigrated from Knowle, Bristol, to Australia in 1969. They were living in a hostel near Fairy Meadow Beach, 40 miles (65km) south of Sydney, at the time of her disappearance.

The accused man, originally from Britain, appeared at the state’s supreme court in Sydney on Friday via video link.

The man, who cannot be named as he was a minor at the time of the alleged offence, spoke only to confirm his name and enter a not guilty plea.

A trial will take place at the same court in May.