JUST hours after a daughter appealed to Bygones’ readers to help trace her dad’s old friend, he was on the telephone to the Lancashire Telegraph.

Kathryn Austin had spent nine years trying to track down Peter Derbyshire, believed to be in Canada, for her father Rodger Holden and she had turned to us in desperation.

Her appeal for the whereabouts of her Uncle Pete was spotted on our pages last week by one of his family, still in Blackburn, who immediately alerted him and the two families have since been in touch.

Kathryn said: “That’s just awesome! My dad is astounded that finding him has been so quick. He’s over the moon and can’t wait to get back in touch. I’ve been searching for uncle Pete for about nine years with no luck.”

Peter and Rodger, used to live next door to each other in Troop Street, Blackburn, until it was demolished in 1950, when they were both five.

They went to St Peter’s Secondary Modern together, when they were 11 and Peter was Rodger’s best man when he married Sandra Lettherd in Mill Hill in 1972.

Rodger and Kathryn, who now live in Worthing, knew Peter had moved to Canada, but were not sure if he had returned and had spent many hours telephoning every P Derbyshire listed in phone books, without success.

“Finding Uncle Pete so quickly is amazing and I would just like to say thank you to Bygones,” she said.