A poorly ex-councillor has launched a desperate appeal to track down cousins he lost touch with after his parents divorced.

David Edgerton, 61, suffers from asbestos-related illness as well as a disorder called neurofibromatosis that leaves him at high risk of developing tumours. Now he wants to reconnect with his long-lost relatives before it’s too late.

His father – Albert Edgerton – was born in Allerton House, Islington, and had two sisters, Lillian and Florence. However, David knows nothing about them or their children after losing touch when his parents split in 1963.

David told the Gazette: “My parents split up when I was eight in the early 1960s and I lost contact with my father’s side.

“My father had two older sisters and I know nothing about them, I’ve tried everything to trace them.

“Years ago when I was young I took a train up to London. We had a family visit in 1962 or ’63 and I’d just like to meet them.”

David has a brother called Kenneth but his sister Doreen died from cancer in 2013.

He worked as a councillor for the Liberal Democrats in south London for four years and was chairman of a housing association between 2011 and 2012.

Do you remember David? Call the Gazette news desk: 020 8477 3813