A MAJOR nationwide poster campaign was launched in a bid to trace a missing golfer.

James Nutley, 26, from Caldicot, disappeared in 2004 while on a golfing trip with friends from his local club.

Friends and family of Mr Nutley have never given up hope of finding him and raised £8,500 to fund the campaign, which will see more than 2,000 posters and car stickers distributed nationwide.

Mr Nutley disappeared around midnight on October 24 2004 after leaving a Tenby pub to return to his hotel.

Friend Tony Croak, 46, from Rogiet, is a member of Mr Nutley's club, the St Pierre Golf Club, and was on the trip.

He is organising the production and distribution of the posters, which range from A4 size to very large A1 posters which he hopes to have attached to the side of lorries.

"We are in touch with the Road Haulage Association and we are hoping we can get these posters seen in every corner of the UK," he said.

The posters are also being distributed to police stations, council offices, bus stations and train stations across the country.

"We haven't given up hope. James is still listed as a missing person and we need to consider the fact that he could be anywhere in the world."

Mr Nutley's father, Jeff Nutley, 60, of Deep Weir, Caldicot, said he was grateful to his son's friends.

"What they have done is absolutely marvellous," he said. "It doesn't get any easier but he's still alive as far as we are concerned until we hear differently.

"James could be anywhere and we have already sent quite a few posters to Ireland to spread the word there."

Last year the family endured an agonising wait to hear whether an arm bone found on a shore in the Penbray area of Pembrokeshire was linked to their son before they could consider a poster campaign.

Police said the bone belonged to a person aged between 20 and 50.

Early this year the family were told DNA tests had proved there was no link between the remains and Mr Nutley.