Fears were growing today for the safety of Manic Street Preachers' guitarist Richey James after his car was found abandoned near the Seven Bridge. Police said suicide had not been ruled out. James, 28, from Cardiff, has been missing for three weeks and has not responded to appeals to contact the police or fellow band members. The car, found by a service station near the bridge last Friday, has been examined but it has not "shed any light" on his disappearance, said a Scotland Yard spokeswoman. James vanished from a London hotel shortly before the cult band, known for its nihilistic message, was due to fly to the US for interviews. He has been described by the music press as one of "pop's great depressives" and has been compared to America's Nirvana star Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide last year.
Mr James vanished on February 1 from the London Embassy Hotel, Bayswater, just hours before the cult "Indie" band was due to fly-out for a 30-date tour of the US. Tonight, the gutarist's distraught father told of his fears for his missing son who has a history of depression and achieved notoriety for carving "4 real" on his forearm with a razor blade during a magazine interview. Graham James, of Blackwood, Gwent, said: "My family are all very worried. If anybody has any information I would urge them to contact the police." He raised the alarm after Richey apparently returned to his flat in Cardiff and dumped his passport before disappearing again. Police said his car, a silver Vauxhall Cavalier registration L519 HKX, was found last Friday by Avon and Somerset officers at the Aust Services on the M4 near Bristol. Last year, the other members of the Manic Street Preachers - James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicholas Jones - were forced to play at the Reading Festival without Richey who was recovering from alcoholism and anorexia at a clinic. He recently claimed to have given up drink and drugs. Band spokeswoman Gillian Porter said: "He seemed fine before he disappeared ... the people who saw him last said he was completely OK. There was nothing to indicate he was going to disappear."