An actor is asking for help in tracking down a talent agency which appears to have disappeared with his cash.

Paul Harris, who is also a DJ, signed up with Jackmans Performance Agency in Brighton last April after it was launched in a blaze of publicity.

Sophia Khan, director of the company, took over the former Jackaman's Agency changing the name to Jackman's. She said she planned to set up a new casting directory on the internet at a site called netcast.org.

Mr Harris, 51, of Glynde Close, New-haven, paid a book fee of £140.

He said: "I thought it was really dear. Even London agents only charge about a £90 book fee and several don't charge at all. But the old Jackaman's Agency had a really good reputation and I went ahead, sending them a cheque for £140."

Mr Harris, who has appeared in the ITV dramas Hornblower and The Vice, did not expect to get work straight away but when he had heard nothing for several months he tried in vain to contact the agency.

Neither Mr Harris's union BECTU, nor the Department of Trade and Industry have been able to find the company.

He said: "I have given up the money for lost. Jackmans just seem to have disappeared."