FORMER ITV and BBC Radio Bristol presenter Peter Rowell is facing an "inevitable" jail term after admitting sexually assaulting youngsters and downloading pictures of child abuse.

Rowell, 53, right, looked pained as he stood in the dock at Bristol Crown Court facing 24 sex offence charges.

The former broadcaster, of Amberley Way, Wickwar, had been due to go on trial on April 16. But, having asked to be remanded in custody over Christmas, he returned to court yesterday and pleaded guilty to 12 indecent assaults and seven charges relating to either downloading or possessing indecent photographs of children. The 12 indecent assaults relate to five girls aged under-16 and arise from workplace-related abuse spanning from 1989 to the mid-1990s.

The indecent photograph offences concern six specimen photos and one charge of possessing 464 indecent images of children, some of which show sexual activity between children or adults sexually abusing children.

Rowell, smartly dressed in a grey suit, blue shirt and tie, has previously had family members supporting him in court but none were present during yesterday's 20-minute hearing.

Edward Burgess, defending, said: "I don't ask for reports in the case.

"We invited Mr Rowell to be remanded in custody on December 9.

"He was realistic to know that an appreciable custodial sentence will inevitably follow."

Rowell denied raping a child aged under 16 between January and December 1989. The Crown Prosecution Service instead accepted his guilty plea to indecent assault, on the basis of improper acts taking place before sexual intercourse.

Ian Fenny, prosecuting, said Rowell accepted the serious allegations made against him and added that the Crown's intention was to let disputed charges lie on file.

The father-of-one was remanded in custody until sentencing in March.

Rowell first came to the Bristol area from his native North East in the late 1980s, working first for radio station GWR and then also for HTV, later known as ITV West, which he moved to full-time in the late 1990s.

He joined BBC Radio Bristol in 2010 but his contract was not renewed when it ran out after his arrest.

The Evening Post first revealed Rowell was being investigated over sex offences in April last year.

He had gone missing at the end of March, prompting a large-scale police search and appeal for information.

He was eventually found in the Lake District and his disappearance was initially put down to depression following the death of his father.