HOPES of a breakthrough in the case of missing Ben Needham have risen after a man who claimed he could be him contacted police.

The family of the British toddler, who went missing on a Greek holiday 24 years ago, made an emotional appeal for information on Greek television.

Ben, from Sheffield, was 21-months-old when he vanished during a family holiday on the island of Kos in 1991.

His mother, Kerry Needham, made a fresh appeal for her information about her son on Friday.

Detectives said they have since been contacted by a man who believes he resembles Ben, who would now be 25-years-old.

The man will undergo DNA tests to confirm his identity as officers sift through several possible leads generated by the new appeal.

South Yorkshire Police said around 30 calls and emails were received following the broadcast, including one who supplied a photograph thought to show an individual who could be Ben.

Officers said they were looking at seven new lines of inquiry, including potential sightings of missing Ben, which would be explored further, in partnership with the Greek authorities.

Detective Superintendents Matt Fenwick said: "We have received lots of information over the last 24 hours.

"Some new information and some which correlates to information we already have in our possession.

"We will now work with the Greek police to review that information to move the inquiry forward.

"Ben would be a 25-year-old adult now, so it's important that we appeal to him too.

"We will ask anyone out there if they've ever had doubts about where they come from.

"If they look completely different to their family or perhaps there are no photographs of them as a baby.

"We will ask anyone with these doubts to come forward - we have a sample of Ben's DNA, so we can easily determine whether someone is indeed Ben."

Ben vanished in July 1991 after travelling to Kos with his mother and his grandparents, who were renovating a farmhouse in the village of Iraklise.

Kerry Needham and grandmother Christine took part in the three-hour TV show on Friday, along side Ben's sister Leighanna.

During the television appeal, his mother said: "Please end the pain that my family is suffering.

"I know he's out there somewhere. Please call the police and please put an end to this."

Earlier this year, South Yorkshire Police were granted £700,000 of Home Office funding to support the Greek authorities to continue the search for Ben.

The force aims to follow up information the family believes was never properly investigated.

The unnamed man came forward to say he thought he resembled a drawing of what Ben Needham would now look like. Another man who recently came forward has been ruled out.

On the day he disappeared, Ben had been left with his grandparents, while his mother went to work at a local hotel.

It was at around 2.30pm, they realised he had disappeared.

During the programme Kerry Needham spoke about previous unsuccessful DNA tests which have already been carried out on a number of young men.

She said: "It is shocking - and every time I meet someone that we think is Ben, and we've had a DNA test and it's not Ben, it's heartbreaking.

"And sometimes, it's very difficult to recover from that."