Bristol reggae icon DJ Derek is feared dead after Avon and Somerset Police said they were “not confident” they would find him.

The 73-year-old retired DJ– real name is Derek Serpell-Morris – was reported missing on 23 Julyand was last seen by friends at Yate bus station on either 16 or 17 July at approximately 12pm. Investigators refocused their search efforts there and there have been reported sightings in Cribbs Causeway and Thornbury.

But seven weeks after he went missing, hope is running out. Twin sister Shirley revealed to BBC Bristol that he told her he did not want “family or authorities to have to care for me” if he became ill. “That stayed in my mind. If he was in my home, I would have asked him a lot more. That is why I believe that he could still be out there but not the Derek that we know,” she said.

Police released CCTV footage of Derek from the last night he was seen in Bristol city centre. It shows him crossing the road from Rupert Street to Lewins Mead wearing a brown jacket with a collar, a brown waistcoat and a black top or shirt.

Serpell-Morris is described as a white male, of average height and slim build with grey hair. He also wears glasses. Known as “Britain’s oldest DJ”, he was revered for playing rocksteady, reggae, ska, dancehall and soul, appeared in a Dizzee Rascal’s Dirtee Disco music video and performed at Glastonbury.