The family of a student missing in Cambodia fears he may have attracted the attention of armed drug dealers in a lawless border town.

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

Two witnesses said they saw Eddie leave Phnom Penh in Cambodia for Poipet, on the border with Thailand, on October 23 last year.

He was believed to have had about £1,500 in cash and was travelling on his own.

The town is notorious for drugs, prostitution and gambling but is a regular stop for travellers going to and from Bangkok. Eddie's family believe he may have met up with a local man who previously showed him and his friends around the historic site of Angkor Watt during their gap-year travels.

They fear that while the man may have meant no harm, his associates may have been tempted by the cash he carried.

Eddie's father, Mike Gibson, said: "It is well known that the border at Poipet can be a dangerous place. There are a lot of illegal activities and some pretty nasty people there so our worry is that something bad has happened to Eddie."

Investigations on behalf of the family have connected Eddie's disappearance to a gang of criminals with a record of violence.

However, Mr Gibson said there was no reason to believe Eddie, who was studying management at Leeds University, had done anything wrong.

He said: "We have no evidence Eddie was involved in selling drugs. He may have just had the misfortune of being befriended by people who are not very nice.

"This is a low point for us. We are going to be holding our breath to see what emerges. We hope it will rule out that something bad has happened but it has been more than seven months since we heard from Eddie and it doesn't look good."

A solidarity walk to show support for Eddie's family will take place on June 12.

Family and friends will leave the Devil's Dyke Inn at Devil's Dyke for Truleigh Hill at 2pm.

Family friend Sarah Baldy, who helped organise the walk, said: "It's not a sponsored walk. It's an opportunity for people to come and support the family in their own way and keep up the profile of Eddie's story."

She said the route was chosen because Eddie won a race along it, as did his brothers Elliott, 26, and Max, 16, while they were at St Christopher's prep school in Hove.

For information about Eddie visit www.eddiegibson.net