FARM workers were not asked to help find Brenda Venables after her disappearance, a jury heard.

The trial of David Venables, accused of killing his wife Brenda in 1982, resumed with evidence from Trevor Brooks, who ran a piggery owned by Mr Venables and his brother Peter at the time Mrs Venables went missing.

He told the court when Brenda Venables went missing, neither he nor his colleagues on the farm were asked by David Venables to join in the search for her.

Further witness statements heard in court said there was "no mention" of Brenda's disappearance by either David or Peter Venables in the aftermath of her disappearance.

Mrs Venables' remains were found in a septic tank on the site of David Venables' farm in Kempsey in 2019.

David Venables denies her murder.

Speaking to the court, Mr Brooks said he ran the piggery at Defford for Peter Venables, while David ran the agricultural farm in Kempsey growing wheat and sugar beet.

He described Mrs Venables as "smart" and "prim and proper" adding he had been out with both of them for meals with his wife as well as on a holiday to Dorset.

Having left his job at the farm in 1985, Mr Brooks eventually made contact with David Venables in 2010 and they have remained in contact.

He added the subject of Mrs Venables' disappearance had not been discussed by them in the years after it happened.

He said: "It never came up."

89-year-old David Venables, of Elgar Drive, Kempsey, is accused of murdering Brenda and disposing of her body in the septic tank.

There were a number of long delays in court as assistance had to be provided so David Venables could hear what was being said, with IT issues also causing a delay of more than an hour immediately after Mr Brooks gave evidence.

The trial continues.