THIS is the conman who posed as the brother of comedian Peter Kay and ran off with hundreds of pounds donated to a fund for a five-year-old cancer sufferer.

In a bid to catch the bogus entertainer, who calls himself Danny Kay, his face is be splashed across television screens during this week's Crimewatch programme.

The fake comedian conned money out of well-wishers from across Derby by offering to put on stand-up shows in pubs and clubs in return for a donation to the Lewis Mighty Fund.

But he never returned to perform the gigs after being given the cash up-front and has not been seen since his story was featured in the Derby Telegraph in August last year.

The parents of Lewis, who has just a 20% chance of surviving the next year after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, hope the public will help police catch the conman after the story, which is due to be featured on the BBC programme tonight, is shown.

Lewis' mum, Jaime, said: "Hopefully, someone watching Crimewatch will know him or will have seen him and have information that will help the police track him down.

"Lots of people from Derby gave him money in good faith thinking that it would go to Lewis's fund.

"The worry is now that this man is somewhere else in the country doing the same thing to someone else."

The Lewis Mighty Fund was launched to raise £300,000 to send Lewis, from Mackworth, to America for cutting-edge treatment in a bid to boost his chances of survival.

The appeal has had the backing of people and businesses from across Derbyshire, along with boxing champion Amir Khan.

Scores of generous residents had handed over cash to the man posing as Danny Kay thinking that the money would be helping to send Lewis to New York for immunotherapy treatment.

Police say the conman is in his 40s, of large build, with sandy blond hair and has a resemblance to the well-known comedian.

An officer from Derbyshire police will be in the London TV studio during tonight's programme to field calls from members of the public who may have information on the man's whereabouts.

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire police said: "This man conned money out of trusting, generous people who were keen to raise funds for a very worthy cause.

"We hope our appeal on Crimewatch will generate new information so officers can move the case forward."

A spokesman for Crimewatch said they could not confirm that the appeal would definitely go ahead until the day of the show but that they were planning to run it.

Anyone with information about the man's whereabouts is asked to call Derbyshire police on 0345 1233333 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.