A former Norwich man has issued a heartfelt appeal to help trace his missing brother, to tell him the sad news that their mother has died.

Christopher Bradley, 52, who was Norwich born-and-bred, has not seen his brother Tony, 57, for about a quarter of a century.

Their mother Penny Bradley has since died and Christopher is keen to tell his brother the news, but also to re-establish contact.

Father-of-four Christopher, who was born in Norwich in 1959 and attended the Norwich Cathedral school, lost contact with his mother due to a family break-up after their father died.

He said: 'I have been trying to find Tony without success for a number of years. I need to tell him that our mum has passed away some years back.

'I'm trying to get in contact now because I'm getting to that stage in life when I need my family, and I need to know what they are doing.

'I'm disabled and I'm going downhill fast, and I want my family back. I live on my own and all my children are grown-up. I want to get back on good terms with my brother.'

He said that he last spoke to his brother about two years before he moved to Wigan in Lancashire in the 1980s.

After school, Christopher had joined the air force and was stationed at the former RAF Coltishall site.

He said: 'I had met a girl in Norwich who came from Blackpool and I moved to Lancashire, and never came back.

'When I left Norwich, Tony was a bus driver at the old Vulcan Road depot in the city and he was living just off St Stephen's Street. He had been a pupil at Earlham High School, was married and I think he had two children.

'Our mother died aged 74 from emphysema and pneumonia.'

Christopher has also lost contact with two other siblings. His sister Diane Stephens is 64 now and believed to be living on the south coast near Southampton while his other brother Terry, who is 60, he last spoke to when he was living in Pimlico in London.

Do you know Tony Bradley? Call reporter David Bale on 01603 772427 or email david.bale2@archant.co.uk.