The former manager of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Master of the Queen’s Music, has admitted defrauding the 75-year-old composer of more than £500,000.

Michael Arnold, also 75, was Sir Peter’s manager for more than 30 years.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of false accounting involving £522,333 at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday. He will be sentenced on October 20.

Arnold and his wife, Judith, both of Golders Green, north-west London, had faced a separate charge of stealing £447,000, but that case was dropped after the prosecution offered no evidence. The couple had denied that allegation.