Missing star's best friend makes an appeal

The best friend of missing children's TV presenter Mark Speight has publicly appealed for him to get in touch.

Stu Goldsmith, 42, who went to school with the TV star, said he feared his friend was on the verge of a breakdown.

Speight, 42, has not been seen since Monday and was known to be distraught over the death of his fiancée Natasha Collins.

Mr Goldsmith said: "All I am doing is asking him to come forward because his family are so worried about him. I have no idea where he is at the moment. All I hope is that he is all right."

He first met Speight at the Regis School in Wolverhampton more than 30 years ago, and they have remained close ever since.

He said: "He was very outgoing at school and was well known for having a great laugh and joking around. But there was also a more serious side to him. Natasha was a lovely girl and the two of them were clearly very in love."

Speight vanished days after an inquest into 31-year-old Natasha's death found that she died in a scalding hot bath after bingeing on cocaine, wine and vodka. The couple had been together for more than five years.

The last sighting of Speight, who fronted children's TV show SMart, was at Queen's Park Tube station in north-west London. He was supposed to meet Natasha's mother Carmen in Covent Garden but failed to turn up.