A FORMER binman at the centre of one of North Yorkshire Police's biggest investigations was last night charged with the murders of twin sisters and an elderly couple.

Mark Hobson, 34, will appear before magistrates in Harrogate today accused of killing 27-year-old Claire and Diane Sanderson and pensioners James and Joan Britton.

The bodies of the twins were found in a flat in the village of Camblesforth, near Selby, on July 18. Hours later retired railway surveyor James Britton, 80, and his 82-year-old wife, Joan, were both found dead at their £400,000 detached home in Strensall, near York, 25 miles away.

The Brittons had two daughters, one who lives in Durham and the other in South Africa.

After the bodies were found, police appealed for anyone who had seen Hobson to contact them. Possible sightings flooded in from all over the country with 175 calls in one day alone.

Almost 300 officers from North Yorkshire Police were supplemented by teams from a dozen other forces, backed by experts from a wide range of disciplines, including psychologists.

Hobson, a divorced father-of-three of Millfield Drive, Camblesforth, was arrested on Sunday near the A19 at Shipton by Beningbrough, near York, after a week-long search. He had walked into a garage and paid 79p in change for water, matches and cigarette papers before leaving.

The owner of the furniture store next door to the garage, Robin Wilson, contacted the police after conferring with garage owner Derrick North.

Hobson spent two nights under police guard in Harrogate District Hospital where he received treatment for dehydration and minor abrasions.