THE distraught mother of Britain's most wanted man yesterday pleaded with him to surrender to police as more details emerged of the killings he is wanted in connection with.

Choking on her tears, Sandra Hobson begged her fugitive son, Mark, to bring the nationwide manhunt to an end and give himself up.

"The best thing you can do is to contact the police, if not the police then a solicitor or someone who can help you," she said.

"Please slow down and please don't hurt anyone. There are people who can help you. Please do this for yourself and for me and the family."

Her message was released as hundreds of possible sightings of Hobson were reported across the country.

He is wanted in connection with the murders of his girlfriend, Claire Sanderson, 27, and her twin sister, Diane, at Camblesforth, near Selby, North Yorkshire, whose bodies were found last Sunday morning.

The bodies were on the floor in a bedroom. Claire was wrapped in plastic bin liners. Diane was partially covered. Both were naked.

Police have positively linked their deaths to those of James and Joan Britton, aged 80 and 82 respectively, at their home in Strensall, York. Their beaten and stabbed bodies were also found last Sunday, three hours after the twins were discovered.

It was confirmed yesterday that Claire died days before her sister and that identification had been made difficult by decomposition.

Diane was last seen alive by relatives last Saturday, but the last confirmed sighting of Claire was a week before the bodies were found, on Sunday, July 11.

She was seen that day drinking in a Camblesforth pub, the Comus, with Hobson. She had last been to work, at Rigid Containers, in Selby, on July 2, and the company had been unable to contact her.

Weapons have been recovered from the scenes of both killings - a hammer from the house in Camblesforth and a kitchen knife from the Brittons' home.

In the early hours of last Sunday, Hobson turned up at his mother's home in Camblesforth and, on the basis of a story he told her, she took him to York District Hospital and left him there. He was filmed there at about 2am by security cameras, and several sightings of someone matching his description were made in Strensall at about 9.15am.

Ten minutes earlier, at about 9.05am, the Brittons had been alive and well when a neighbour called, but at 11.26am their fully-clothed bodies were found.

As the hunt continued yesterday, police were reacting to calls all over the country. Searches were carried out in Darlington, Durham, Loftus and Cawood, near York, after possible sightings.

Deputy Chief Constable Roger Baker said they were utilising every resource they had in the hunt.

Anyone with information should contact (01904) 669651.