The parents of a man missing on a trekking holiday have appealed for help in finding him.

Gareth Koch, 24, of Hamfield, Wantage, has not contacted his parents Gill and David, for seven weeks, which they said was "totally out of character".

His parents said they were 'very worried' about him even though he is an experienced backpacker.

He set off to travel around Nepal with a friend on February 21 and contacted his parents to say he had arrived safely in the capital, Kathmandu.

He and his friend had intended to return on March 20, but went their separate ways after a disagreement on March 5.

The friend returned home on March 15, but there has been no sighting of Mr Koch since March 5, when he had teamed up with another group of travellers.

Mr Koch's father appealed for anyone who might have been to Nepal and seen their son to come forward. "It has now been seven weeks since we have heard from our son and we are getting very worried about what could have happened to him," he said.