THE brother of the former Worcestershire man feared dead in the Bali nightclub bombing said his family was now "philosophical" about his fate.

Paul Holmes, from Droitwich, said his brother, Tom, had not yet been formally identified at the scene of the horrific blast, that killed almost 200 people on Saturday night.

But he said he was sure he was dead after learning that his Hong Kong rugby team had been drinking in the Sari nightclub at the time of the explosion.

"We don't fear the worst. We know it," said Mr Holmes, Tom's older brother. "We know that he was in a team group at the bar shortly before the explosion."

He described Tom, a 39-year-old civil engineer who moved to Hong Kong seven year ago, as a "wonderful and loving son, brother and uncle."

Mr Holmes, 43, said he and other relatives, parents Peter and Jane from Oxfordshire and sister Claire from Cambridge, were taking comfort from the fact that Tom was enjoying himself before the tragedy.

"It's very upsetting, but we've had a few days now to come to terms with the idea," he said.

"One can only be philosophical about it. Tom's passion in life was sport and he was heavily involved in rugby, hockey and golf.

"We take comfort in the fact that he was with his friends, had been on the rugby field and was at the bar having a drink.

"That's exactly the way he would have wanted it."

He said his brother, who was not married, was a popular man and was known throughout the amateur rugby world, after touring in places such as the Philippines, Japan, Australia and Bali.

He was also a member of a dragon boat team, that won the Hong Kong championships five years in succession.

Tom attended Bromsgrove School, which he left in the early 1980s, and lived in Upton for a short time before moving to Oxfordshire.

"He's going to be very much missed," said Mr Holmes.