Friends of a student missing in Cambodia are selling wrist bands to pay for a private investigator to try to find him.

Eddie Gibson, 20, a former Cardinal Newman pupil from Hove, disappeared in October after telling his parents he was on his way home. He has not made contact since.

Now his friends have started selling wrist bands, similar to those for the Make Poverty History and Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns, to raise awareness of Eddie's situation.

Elliott Raggio, Max Samandi and Tomas Samandi grew up with Eddie and said they felt compelled to do something to help their friend.

Mr Raggio, 20, said: "I was gutted there was nothing we could do. I was in the gym thinking about it and I was wearing another wrist band. I thought we could get some bands only for friends to show we were still thinking about Eddie.

Then I thought we might be able to sell them to pay for a private investigator or whatever the family needed."

Together they bought a batch of 40 glow-in-the-dark bands which say "Eddie" on them and are selling them to friends for a donation of at least £10.

Word of the bands is spreading and Mr Raggio said they had already raised £250.

Meanwhile Sue Shackleton, who has known the Gibson family for more than 20 years, is busy raising £500 to buy wrist bands to be given out with leaflets about Eddie in Cambodia and Thailand.

She hopes to buy 500 bright orange bands to be handed out free to backpackers and party-goers.

She said: "I just felt I had to do something to help.

People already talk about the bands they have at the moment so it should provide a good talking point for travellers who might have seen Eddie."

Eddie's father, Mike Gibson, said: "We are so encouraged as a family by what is being done for us and Eddie. We are very touched by this. We think the bands are an extremely good idea."

He said the family was still investigating a possible sighting of Eddie in a nightclub in Bangkok and following up leads from dozens of emails sent to Eddie's mother Jo Gibson-Clark on a daily basis.

Eddie, a management student at Leeds University, was last seen on October 23 in Phnom Penh when he told a Cambodian girl with whom he had a holiday romance he was going to Thailand but would return.

The following day he sent an email to his mother saying he had booked a flight home but he failed to catch it.

For more information visit the web site www.eddiegibson.net.

To buy a glow-in-the-dark wrist band contact Elliott Raggio on 07736 272588.