The family of a North Yorkshire pilot imprisoned in Africa after stumbling on the site of a massacre are due to meet with Foreign Office officials today.

David Simpson was the manager for a safari firm in the Central African Republic when he discovered 13 bodies while clearing a route through dense bush.

Many of the corpses had machete wounds, while others had been beaten to death or killed with boiling water.

He reported the discovery to the military, but just days later was arrested on suspicion of murder.

It is widely believed that supporters of the notorious warlord Joseph Kony were behind the killings.

Mr Simpson has now been told he will be freed from prison if he pays £800,000 to local officials.

His Swedish boss at the Cawa safari company, is also being held. The company charges hunters to shoot big game such as leopard, lion and buffalo.

It understood that relatives of the dead have been told by officials they will receive compensation payouts from the two Europeans if they testify against them and claim they were the killers.

Mr Simpson’s father, Pete, from Gillamoor, near Pickering, said: “We met with our MP Anne McIntosh on Friday and she told us David Cameron has become involved and has rung the president of Gabon, which has very close ties with the state.

“If everybody has done what they said they’d do, then I’m hoping for some good news.”

Mr Simpson, who runs a game farm on the North York Moors, said he had spoken to his son was managing to keep his spirits up.

“When I spoke to him this morning they’d been playing football in the prison, but the ball went over the fence and some kids pinched it, so the football had to come to an end.

“It’s hard to understand how this can happen when you come from a democratic country like ours.”

A spokeswoman from the Foreign Office said they were in contact with the Central African Republic (CAR) for assurances that correct legal procedures were being followed.

She said: “We have asked that the matter will be concluded as swiftly as possible. Consular staff have visited Mr Simpson regularly since his arrest and we are in frequent contact with him and his family."