A pensioner has denied murdering an elderly woman.

Charles Graham, 77, is accused of murdering Davinia Graham, 67, on August 30 this year in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

The defendant, of Fairfield Road, Cheltenham, spoke only to confirm his date of birth and enter his not guilty plea during a brief hearing at Bristol Crown Court.

A trial is due to begin on March 3 next year and last around a week.

Judge Peter Blair KC, the Recorder of Bristol, fixed a further hearing for February 4 and remanded Graham into custody.

Gloucestershire Police had previously said the emergency services were called to a report of a woman who had been seriously injured at a property on Fairfield Road at around 3.30am on August 31.

She was declared dead at the scene.