THEY sought her here. They sought her there. Was she on the ground or still in the air? They sought Kelly Ann Piggford pretty much everywhere.

Their task was simple -grab the first picture and interview with the woman whose "home alone" tale has seemingly commanded more newsprint than anything Macaulay Culkin ever achieved.

Easy, surely. After all, Durham Tees Valley Airport is hardly a Heathrow-style sprawling metropolis. It boasts an arrivals area no bigger than the average living room. So there they waited.

The television screen said that the flight from Dalaman, Turkey, due to land at 4.55am, was running 15 minutes ahead of schedule. But just before 5am, two airport workers poked their heads through the doors, peered at the waiting Press pack and fiddled with their radios.

By the side of the terminal was an empty police car, its engine still warm. Was this to be Kelly's getaway?

Three airport officials appeared in the distance, but they soon disappeared after catching a glimpse of the baying newshounds, notepads in hand, and long lenses poised.

"Take her back, take her back, the Press are at the side entrance," a guard shouted into his walkie-talkie, as another police vehicle patrolled around.

Security could hardly have been tighter when the President of the US visited the same airport - although then with a different name - in 2003.

But where had she gone? Trundling her trolley, Kelly's holiday companion, 20-year-old Lisa Riding, was not going to say.

"They took her away," she said. "She never left her kids, she never left her kids."

The Press pack returned to trawling the main terminal, the car park, round by the bins, everywhere... but by 5.45am - day long since dawned - it became clear she was anywhere else than at the airport.

Kelly Ann: I don't understand what the fuss is about

KELLY ANN PIGGFORD was paid an undisclosed amount for an exclusive interview with Closer magazine.

In the article, she denied leaving her children with a 15-year-old girl.

She said: "I didn't abandon my children with a teenager. I left them with a male 20-year-old family friend whose younger sister helps out.

"I don't see anything wrong with letting her help out as the children love her. You see 13-year-old mothers, so why not have 15-year-old babysitters? I don't understand the fuss."

Miss Piggford, who is unemployed, has spent only seven days with her children in the past five weeks, spending 28 days holidaying in Turkey.

She last telephoned home at the beginning of the holiday on the way to a beachside strip of bars and clubs.

She said: "I could have flown home early, but that would have cost me an extra £89." Miss Piggford claims £186 a week in benefits.

The magazine reports she and her friends have enjoyed nights out until 4am, dancing in bars, downing cocktails and getting drunk. Miss Piggford said: "All the staff and locals know us by name now - we can get free drinks in most of the bars."

But she insists she has done nothing wrong. "I'm a full time mum; everyone needs to let their hair down sometimes. My kids want for nothing. They have wardrobes bulging with clothes and an attic full of toys. They always come first and, even if I was desperate for clothes, I would rather go out dressed like a tramp if the kids needed something.

"I just had to get away and I made sure everything was prepared for the kids before I went. I can't believe everyone is saying I abandoned them."