Karl Smith
© BBCKarl Smith was only 12 when he died
A mystery man who left flowers at a 12-year-old boy scout's grave for nearly 70 years has been revealed to be a childhood friend who was with him just before he died.

Ronald Seymour-Westborough, 84, has been visiting the grave of Karl Sharp, who died in 1947 on a Scouting trip, since he was 18 years-old. He had been on the same trip and shared a tent with him on the night he died.

Karl's sister Ann Kear has been trying to find out who the person who still remembered her brother is for several years after noticing flowers and poems left at his final resting place near Cheltenham.

She told the BBC it was "brilliant" to discover who was responsible it was Mr Seymour-Westborough from Gloucester.

Mr Seymour-Westborough said Karl had been his closest friend in the Scouts. They had shared a tent the night before he died, and he later found him face down in the sea.

He said he had no idea Ms Kear had been looking for him, and did not even know Karl had a sister.

But Ms Kear, 77, has still not found out who has been leaving the poems.

Ann Kear Ronald Seymour-Westborough
© BBCAnn Kear had been searching for the man who left flowers for her brother
A BBC Stories investigation led to Mr Seymour-Westborough being tracked down to his Gloucester home.

Karl was on a scouting trip to Oxwich Bay near Swansea in August 1947, when he drowned, and was buried at St Mary's Church in Prestbury near Cheltenham.

Ms Kear was just seven at the time, and two years ago she appealed for whoever had been leaving tributes to get in touch.

The BBC made a programme telling the story behind the discovery called "The Stranger at my Brother's Grave".