A PORTRAIT of former Beirut hostage Terry Waite that was left on a train has been found – thanks to an appeal in the East Anglian Daily Times.

Yesterday Mr Waite, who was held captive for almost five years between 1987 and 1991, said he was “delighted” that the painting had been tracked down to a lost property depot in Norwich.

The 73-year-old humanitarian appealed for help on Tuesday, more than a month after losing the oil painting on a Greater Anglia train from Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds.

Mr Waite, who lives in Hartest, near Bury, said: “They found me slightly quicker this time, it was only five weeks rather than five years!”

He added: “Thank you so much for running an appeal.”

Mr Waite was told yesterday morning that the painting had been located after a member of staff from Ipswich Station – the train’s final stop – recognised it from the EADT’s report.

She said the work, which was painted as part of the Bingham Brothers’ People of Our Time series, had been taken to a lost property department in Norwich.

Mr Waite had previously contacted the office when the painting first disappeared, but it is thought the portrait was yet to arrive at the time of the call.

Mr Waite, who found global fame when he was held hostage while acting as Archbishop of Canterbury’s special envoy in Lebanon, is hoping to collect the painting when he returns from a work trip next week.

A Greater Anglia spokeswoman said: “We’re pleased the portrait has been found and that Terry Waite can be reunited with it.”