A BABY boy rescued from a poverty-stricken shanty town in South America and flown to the North-East 18 years ago will return to help other children.

David Austin has been brought up by Dr Peter Austin and his wife, Dianne, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham.

They went to Lima, in Peru, to adopt him when he was only a day old after he was born to an unmarried girl in a colony of ramshackle huts outside the capital city.

Dr Austin, a GP, returned home soon after, but Mrs Austin had to stay in Peru for 11 weeks to complete formalities before she flew home with David.

Now he has gained three A-levels at Barnard Castle School, where he excelled at rugby, cricket and hockey, and will spend part of a gap year working in South America. He will then go to Nottingham University to study modern languages.

He will spend three months teaching at Nassar, a small village in Ecuador, before moving north to Peru and spending several months in the area he was born in.

David said: "I cannot imagine what my life would have been like if I had remained there. I realise how fortunate I was to be adopted and brought here to a loving home. I want to help others who are still there being brought up in poor conditions.

"When I get to Lima I will go to the shanty town if it is still there. I will help the children all I can, probably by teaching in a school and organising some sports."

Mrs Austin, a former chairwoman of Teesdale District Council, said: "We are proud of what he is doing. He has always said how lucky he feels."

The couple adopted him through an agency set up by the wife of Alan Garcia, the then president of Peru, to deal with the severe problem of shanty town children.

Mrs Austin said: "Conditions were dreadful in the shanty town, with children suffering from terrible poverty. But I think things may have improved."

The couple later adopted a girl from Lima, Kate, who is a pupil at Barnard Castle School. David has been carrying out jobs to raise money towards the £3,300 needed for his fares and other expenses, but still needs more.

Any individual or organisation that would like to hold a fundraising event for him is asked to contact him or his parents on (01833) 640428. His trip is being arranged through Outreach International, based in Somerset, and he is due to leave on January 6.