A missing Frenchman thought to be in London has been spotted twice in the North-West suburb of Hendon.

An Orthodox resident says that he and his son first saw Patrick, or Pinchos, Zini in the area on erev Pesach. They met the Parisian at around 11.30 at night as they headed to a shalom zachar, a ceremony that takes place on the first Friday night after the birth of a baby boy. He then reappeared at their house on April 29 last week.

The man, who asked not to be named, said the Frenchman introduced himself as Patrick and spoke English, French and Hebrew.

He said: “He gave a long story about how he had arrived from Paris. He came to the outside of the house with us but refused to come in.”

The man and his son offered Mr Zini a sleeping bag, but he refused, saying he did not rely on the area’s eruv.

The witness added: “He really seemed quite disturbed. We spent 45 minutes with him but he didn’t seem prepared to help himself.”

The man was wary about taking in Mr Zini, but attempted to find a safe place for him to stay and tried knocking on local synagogue doors.

The man added: “He said he had been to the Golders Green mikveh to wash. We kept on digging for information but he didn’t tell us anything. He seemed to be very troubled, talking to himself.”