Police have found human remains in the Patchway area of South Gloucestershire believed to be those of missing Derek Serpell-Morris, aka DJ Derek.

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset police said initially: “Earlier today we spoke with the family of Derek Serpell-Morris to inform them of this latest development. 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.”

Derek’s great niece Jennifer Griffiths told The Bristol Post: “As soon as I heard the news last night I was convinced it was him. I have spoken to the rest of the family and we all feel the same way. In a way it would be closure for us if this was Derek but at the same time it would be awful; it would be the worst-case scenario. He used to get the bus to Cribbs Causeway all the time and we always felt that he could have ended up around that area.

“It just feels that we wasted all that time looking in the wrong places when he was there all the time. We are waiting to hear from the police. We are just waiting for that phone call. It just feels awful, we are all sitting here expecting the worse.”

Police are treating the death as unexplained.

The 73-year-old local DJ has been missing for 8 months. Despite reports of sightings throughout 2015, his family last week began legal proceedings to have him presumed dead.