The family of a nightclub doorman murdered in a drive-by shooting say they are seeking “peace” as they make an appeal for help in tracking down his killers 15 years since the killing.

Christopher Lombard, 30, died in a hail of bullets outside The Island, a former nightclub in High Road on December 1, 1996.

His sister Jenny Lombard was elsewhere celebrating her 40th birthday when the fatal shots were fired.

She and her sister Denise Hastings (nee Lombard) are calling on those who know their brother’s killers to break their silence.

Jenny said: “Bringing it to a close would be so nice. To have some peace in our lives, to know they’ve been brought to justice.

“They’re still out there walking, living, enjoying life when they shouldn’t be.”

Appealing directly to those with key information which could help solve the murder, she added: “Prick your conscience. Think about if it was your brother, your cousin, your sibling.

“We just want someone out there to come forward. Someone must know something.”

The 55-year-old of Dagenham said she had thought Christopher’s killers would be caught “within a few months” when he was gunned down outside the club where he worked as a doorman.

She said she believed he may have been killed after refusing to allow drug dealers inside the club that night.

Her sister Denise, who now lives in Australia said: “Several years ago the authorities contacted my mother to inform her that a team of retired or semi-retired officers had opened a cold case unit, and that Christopher’s murder was one of the cases they were going to investigate.

“That must have been at least four to five years ago and we have not heard one word.”

She added: “I’m still hoping one day someone’s conscience will get the better them and they will do the right thing.”