Those early thumb latch catchers don't stand the test of time well in their plastic composition, most entering the decomposition stage now. Here are examples of alternatives from later models that will fit and look good on your mower. Note the first shown is 100% compatible and comes off a slightly later updated design Mustang with the same base as yours. The other two, especially the last one will be easier to locate and less rare and will go on ok. The blue one came more commonly in black and sometimes green. That's just to show you the shape. Make sure they have a regular lower lip at the bottom of the entry and not the offset one used for self propelled models. The UK was a large export market for Victa for a long time so you should be able to hunt down one of these catchers in online ads your way.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
