Police believe the human remains discovered on Thursday near Cribbs Causeway belong to missing 73-year-old DJ Derek.

A member of the public found the body at 4.28 pm on Thursday. The remains were found near the junction of Merlin Road and Highwood Road in Patchway. The body had severely decomposed.

Det Ch Insp Matthew Iddon said: “Earlier today we spoke with the family of Derek Serpell-Morris to inform them of this latest development.

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“While we’re not yet in a position to confirm the remains are of Derek, we strongly believe this to be the case due to personal items found at the scene.

“This is a very distressing time for Derek’s family who’ve been carrying out an exhaustive campaign to locate him and raise awareness of his disappearance and our thoughts are very much with them.”

The DJ went missing eight months ago. His bus pass was last used in Thornbury on the 78 bus service at 10.32 am on July 11, 2015. CCTV was not available on the service, so it’s uncertain whether the DJ himself used the bus pass.

Derek was last spotted on CCTV at 11.14 pm on Friday, July 10, crossing from Rupert Street to Lewins Mead in Bristol city centre.

Since his disappearance in July, his family have searched tirelessly for the missing music DJ, posting notices and organising searches.

Earlier this month, the family officially applied to have Derek declared dead.

DJ Derek, a former accountant, was known for his strong Jamaican accent when spinning reggae records and was awarded a Lord Mayor’s medal, the highest civic honour in Bristol, in 2012.

Read more: Obituary: DJ Derek