A FORMER Radio 1 DJ has admitted a string of sex offences against young boys.

Chris Denning, 73, of Basildon, has pleaded guilty to 29 charges involving boys as young as nine when he appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London.

He has denied a further 12 charges and will face a trial on November 24.

The offences he admitted were committed between 1967 and 1984 and involved boys aged from nine to 16.

Denning, 73, of Basildon in Essex, was one of the original Radio 1 line-up when the station was launched in 1967.

He was also the first announcer heard on BBC2 when the television channel took to the air in 1964.

He was first arrested by detectives from sex crime inquiry Operation Yewtree in June last year.

Judge Alistair McCreath told him he would be remanded in custody until his trial, which is expected to last up to two weeks.