A FAMILY has been reunited after more than 30 years.

Long lost cousins Terry Hanlon, of Hartlepool, and Jenny Keshav were reunited after Mr Hanlon contacted a business which ordinarily specialises in tracking down relatives of recently deceased people.

As well as the cousins, Mr Hanlon's 84-year-old mother Cath Hanlon and Ms Keshav's 24-year-old daughter, Gemma, finally had the chance to meet.

The family drifted apart when Ms Keshav’s father, John Robert Tebbett, joined the Merchant Navy and moved to Margate where he met Ms Keshav’s mother, following an earlier marriage in which he had two daughters.

Now 54 and with four children and nine grandchildren, Jenny Keshav admitted she was a bit of a rebellious teenager and after living with both her mum and dad following their split years later, she spent a short time in care.

Jenny Keshav said: “To hear that people have been thinking about me all of this time was so lovely. I have just inherited an enormous family in Hartlepool. I am just so thankful to have met them all again.”

Terry Hanlon, a corporate responsibility manager, said: “Every time we have a family get-together the conversation would always get around to ‘I wonder what happened to our Jenny.' Every time. We have tried numerous times to find her on social media and through old contacts we had but to no avail.

"Then I read about HeirHunter UK and sent them a message and Fraser Kinnie (managing director at the Hartlepool-based company) called me straight away and actually did the search while I was on the phone. I was absolutely amazed how quickly he located her and how much information he had at his fingertips.”

Mr Kinnie, who lives in Seaton Carew, empathised with Ms Keshav's situation which led to her being lost to the family. He said: “There are so many families lost through the care system and adoption who are desperate to find family members. That is one of the reasons why we offer the free family tracing service.”

Heir Hunters UK was set up by husband and wife team Fraser and Tracy Kinnie six years ago and specialises in locating missing heirs across the country.

They have helped to get hundreds of thousands of pounds to the relatives of those who have died without leaving a will.