A 29-year-old man has pleaded not guilty at Maidstone Crown Court in a murder-without-a-body case.

Stuart Martin is alleged to have killed 56-year-old Francis Ottley, who lived in Dover but disappeared while touring in Spain, between March 12 and April 8 last year.

Mr Justice Wilkie ordered that Martin, who is unemployed, should stand trial on July 16 next year.

He was remanded in custody and will appear for another hearing on January 26.

Mr Ottley left Dover in 2003 to travel to Spain in a motor home. Friends became concerned about him after receiving a letter from an ex-patriot living in the La Linea area in April last year.

Kent Police were alerted because the letter writer said Mr Ottley had not been seen since February last year. It was concluded that he had been killed.

Jonathan Higgs, prosecuting, said the trial was likely to last up to four weeks.

"We have a team of seven officers going to Spain in the next week or so," he said. "We are working with the authorities there. An important witness is currently resident in China."

Martin lives at Bramble Way, Hollingbury, Brighton, east Sussex.