MORE than 60 years after a brother and sister were cruelly parted, a tearful reunion has taken place thousands of miles across the ocean from their former North-East home.

Patricia Lumley, 74, recognised her brother, Brian Pratt, 69, as soon as she saw him in hospital in Melbourne, Australia, despite the fact she had not seen him since he was 11.

It was a meeting that ended years of heartache and a painstaking search that has lasted a lifetime.

Mrs Lumley said: "Unfortunately, Brian had fallen and badly broke his arm, which is now infected.

"When we got to the hospital, I recognised him straight away. We could not have a cuddle or anything or say what we wanted to say because his arm was wrapped up and there were people about."

Brian was among thousands of youngsters taken to Australia in the 1940s and 1950s by the Catholic Church for a "better start in life".

Mrs Lumley, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, said: "In 1947, they started sending all the children over to Australia.

"My mother got a letter saying that Brian wanted to go because all of his friends were going too.

"Of course we now know that they had lied. He did not want to go."

Mrs Lumley, Brian and their sister Ann were taken into care because their mother was unmarried, and the Catholic Church felt they would be better in care.

They were aged eight, three and one respectively.

When Mrs Lumley was 15, she and Ann returned to their mother's home after she married and had another baby. Brian never came home.

Mrs Lumley, recalled the last time she saw Brian. She said: "I saved all my pocket money to visit my auntie in Cockermouth, and me and a cousin went to see Brian, who was in a Catholic boys' home in Carlisle.

"I can still remember him clearly with his blond curly hair. He was exited because he had never had a visitor before."

At first they managed to write to each other, but by 1955, they had lost touch. Mrs Lumley, said: "I had given up all hope of ever seeing him again.

"We had tried everything and we had had a letter from the Salvation Army in England saying they were closing the books on their search."

Last year, a letter arrived from the Salvation Army in Australia saying Brian had been found.

Mrs Lumley said: "I phoned him and we talked and since then, we have spoken once a week."

Last month, Mrs Lumley's daughters, Amanda and Janet, paid to take their mother to Australia to see her brother.

Mrs Lumley said: "It was lovely to see him again. I cannot thank the Salvation Army enough. I have given them a donation, but I still do not feel like I have given enough."