A 30-year-old wood machinist today admitted murdering his girlfriend, whose body was found more than a month after she went missing.

Paul Dyson pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to murdering 22-year-old Joanne Nelson.

Job Centre worker Miss Nelson was reported missing from the home she shared with Dyson at Hotham Road North, in Hull, on Valentine's Day and her body was found in woods near Malton, North Yorkshire, on March 24.

Dyson stood in the dock for the three-minute hearing flanked by a single security guard.

Wearing a green fleece jacket over a cream jumper, he spoke only to confirm his name and to enter his guilty plea.

Miss Nelson's parents, Charlie and Jean, stared at Dyson intently throughout his brief appearance and there was a muffled cry of ''yes'' from the packed public gallery as he entered his plea.

Paul Worsley QC, prosecuting, asked the judge, Judge Tom Cracknell, to adjourn the case until tomorrow morning for sentencing. The court was then adjourned until 10.30am tomorrow.

Dyson had admitted the manslaughter of Miss Nelson at a previous hearing but denied murder.

He changed his plea today on what was scheduled to be the first day of the murder trial.

The disappearance of Miss Nelson in February sparked a huge police hunt involving hundreds of officers, volunteers and even the army.

Specialists were brought in, some of whom had worked on the inquiry into the missing schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Her body was eventually discovered by the detective leading the inquiry, Detective Superintendent Ray Higgins, in a wood near Malton, North Yorkshire.

Shortly after Miss Nelson disappeared, Dyson appeared on local TV appearing to be extremely upset and appealing for help to find her.