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Greek detectives will DNA test a young man living with a Roma family in Cyprus after sensational evidence emerged suggesting he could be missing Ben Needham.

Ben’s mum Kerry has been handed a grainy photograph of the man and believes it could be her son who disappeared from Kos in 1991, aged two.

He has light brown hair and blue eyes and moved to Cyprus with a Roma family a few years ago to avoid mandatory military service in Greece.

Yesterday Kerry, 41, said she was encouraged by the breakthrough in the hunt for her missing son, who will now be 23.

Kerry said: “I’ve seen the picture and believe he bears a resemblance to how Ben might now look.

“As a family we’re greatly lifted by this and we will be in close contact with the Greek authorities to make sure we are kept fully aware of any progress.

“We’ve never given up hope of finding Ben and we are encouraged that the police in Greece are continuing to investigate.”

(Image: Dimokratiki of Rhodes)

The picture emerged when an anonymous source submitted evidence, including a video, to Panayiotis Avrithis, the president of the Lawyers Association in Kos.

He then handed it to Alexandra Moussoura, the District Attorney of Kos.

The video shows a young man aged 20 to 25 with four other Roma men at a church in Limassol, Cyprus.

According to Mr Avrithis, he bears a great resemblance to the image Scotland Yard released of how Ben might look now.

Yesterday Greek prosecutors ordered their Cypriot counterparts to find him.

A police source said: “This is a highly significant development. It is vital that this man is found and that we can establish exactly who he is.”

Details of the breakthrough first emerged in the newspaper Greek Reporter. The newspaper’s spokesman said yesterday: “The District Attorney of Kos, Mrs Alexandra Moussoura, was presented with the evidence by Mr Avrithis.

“The prosecutor has notified Interpol and we expect the Cypriot authorities to start investigating the case and locate this young man.”

(Image: Daily Mirror)

The development comes only a week after four-year-old Maria was discovered living with Greek gypsies.

We told how police in Greece were probing rumours Ben was at the camp.

The astonishing claims came from Andonis Bedzios who went to the remote camp in Larissa, central Greece, to search for his own son when he saw a child matching Ben’s description.

He gave a statement to police, but Ben’s family say officers did not follow it up.

The account is one of a string of links between the Greek travelling community and 21-month-old Ben’s disappearance.

He vanished on July 24, 1991, while his grandparents Eddie and Christine Needham were looking after him on Kos.

In May 2012 our sister paper the Daily Mirror revealed that police were considering excavating land in Kos to look for Ben’s body, although mum Kerry, still believed that her son was alive.

That search proved fruitless but his family are still fighting to make sure his case is properly investigated.