The only real clue to his identity is an astonishing talent for the piano.

The 6ft musician — dubbed The Piano Man — is believed to have suffered a nervous breakdown which has deprived him of his memory and left him unable to communicate except through drawings and a remarkable ability for music.

Two police officers discovered him stumbling along a road near a beach in Sheerness, Kent, during a storm last month. Police said that he was soaked to the skin, possibly from the heavy rain, but his clothes were so drenched that they thought he may have been in the sea.

He has not spoken a word since he was picked up and has left officers baffled as to who he is, why he was there dressed immaculately in a black dinner suit, white shirt and tie, where he had come from and what he was doing.

After being found by police he was driven to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent, where he was able to communicate with doctors and nurses only by drawing a Swedish flag and an intricate sketch of a grand piano.

The man was taken to the piano in the hospital chapel, where he performed a two-hour recital of classical music, but medical staff have not been able to make any further progress with his condition.

He has since been transferred to a psychiatric unit, where he has been treating patients and staff to brilliant performances of his favourite works.

Ramanah Venkiah, manager of the unit, said: “He has been playing the piano to a very high quality for up to four hours at a time and staff say it is a real pleasure to hear it.

“But we still have no idea who he is, because he is not speaking to us.”

Dozens of classical music fans who have heard about the troubled pianist from local media and the internet have called the hospital, claiming that he has played in some of the top concert halls in Europe. But as a result of conflicting information, he still has not been identified. “We have had a lot of calls from members of the public telling us they have seen him performing,” Mr Venkiah said. “They are obviously big fans and are keen for him to get better.”

Police believe that the pianist is English and in his twenties or thirties. He has short brown hair and is slim.

He is physically fit and appears to have no other health problems. But he appears at ease only when he is playing the piano.

Michael Camp, a care worker, said: “Two policemen found him dressed as if he had come from a concert but couldn’t get a word out of him. He appears to be a professional pianist and has amazed everyone who has heard him.

“He plays for hours every day from memory and from sheet music he has written. It is difficult to stop him and he sounds concert standard. When he plays, all his anxiety disappears.

“Away from the piano he starts to breathe very quickly and shies away from people.”

A photograph of the man nervously clutching a duvet has been posted on the National Missing Persons Helpline website (http://www.missingpersons.org).

Despite this and inquiries to music groups and concert organisers, investigators have so far drawn a blank.

The similarities between him and David Helfgott, the Australian pianist whose life was dramatised in Shine, the 1996 film, are uncanny. Helfgott overcame a nervous breakdown in 1970 to perform recitals after an interval of ten years.

• Anyone who thinks they know this man should contact Teri at the National Missing Persons Helpline on 020-8392 4509

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