A builder has pleaded guilty to murdering a 58-year-old customer at her home.

Peter Norgrove admitted the murder of Sharon Gordon, who died from severe head injuries, when he appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday, West Midlands Police said.

He was a recently qualified bricklayer who met Mrs Gordon through mutual friends at the church they both attended, the force said.

The 43-year-old had worked on an extension, which had taken months and encountered several problems, at Mrs Gordon’s property.

Mrs Gordon’s body was found at the foot of her stairs on the afternoon of Friday July 21 after concerned friends called at her home in Bromford Road, Holly Hall, Dudley.

During the course of the investigation into Mrs Gordon’s death, Norgrove was interviewed and said he had left the property the previous day.

Blood-stained items were found in a wheelie bin at a family address linked to Norgrove and further searches revealed a hammer hidden in a shed.

Detective Inspector Damian Forrest, who led the investigation, said: “This appears to have been a disagreement over work carried out at the victim’s property which has escalated into violence.

“I am pleased the defendant has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and spared Mrs Gordon’s family the ordeal of a trial.”

Norgrove, of Brownswall Road, Sedgley, will be sentenced on January 26.