The father of a British man who has been held hostage for nearly two years said a new video of his son has given him fresh hope that he could soon be freed.

Graham Moore's son, Peter, was seized in May 2007, along with his four British bodyguards, when up to 40 armed militants disguised as Iraqi policeman stormed the Baghdad building where he worked.

Footage of the computer consultant, who grew up in Leicester before he moved to Lincoln as a schoolboy, emerged over the weekend after it was released to the British Embassy in Iraq.

Speaking for the first time about his 35-year-old son's plight, Mr Moore, 59, from Wigston, said: "Peter is well. He looks much better than he did in the last video.

"I was overjoyed to see how well he is doing under the circumstances. It has brought me a lot of comfort. My thoughts have always been very optimistic, but to see him looking so well has given me fresh optimism.

"I've always believed that he would be freed one day, and this has just reinforced that feeling. The only question now is when."

In the video Peter, who worked for the US management consultancy BearingPoint, calls on the British Government to respond to a request by his kidnappers, the Shi'ite Islamic Resistance in Iraq, to free nine Iraqi prisoners being held by the US. Mr Moore said, while it "looked like Peter was reading from something", he appeared to be doing so voluntarily.

The footage, which has not been publicly released, is the first time Peter has been seen by his father since a previous video in February 2008.

In the months between the two films, he said he received little information from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, but "dribs and drabs" had made it through.

He said: "The whole ordeal has been upsetting, especially the lack of information, but I have never given up hope for him.

"I like to think Peter knows what is going on and somewhere along the line he has got the message through that his dad has not forgotten about him. It is thoughts like that that keep me going."

Peter and his bodyguards, identified only by their first names as two Jasons, Alan and Alec, are among the last Western hostages still being held in Iraq. They have been referred to as the forgotten prisoners.

However, Mr Moore said he had never given up hope for Peter. He said: "I have not forgotten him. My brother has not forgotten him and his friends have not forgotten him."

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: "We have received a video of one of the British hostages taken in 2007.

"We are not prepared to comment on any details, but this is a significant development.

"We are continuing to work actively for the safe release of all of the hostages."