TEARS of joy flowed after a woman was reunited with her nephew after years apart, with the help of The Northern Echo.

Mary Maugham, 91, was featured in Tuesday's paper after becoming the oldest person ever to abseil down a cliff - a feat recognised by the Guinness Book Of Records.

The pair enjoyed an emotional reunion at her home at Argyll Court residential home, in Norton, near Stockton-on-Tees, after Alan Walker read about her exploits in The Northern Echo.

Mrs Maugham said: "I'd like to say thank you to the Echo, because if it hadn't written about my abseil, then Alan wouldn't have known where I was. We might not have ever spoken to each other again.

"He came over to see me the same day it appeared in the paper and we fell into each other's arms. He cried and then so did I. It was a very special time for us both.''

The pair were close until Mr Walker, a train driver, moved to London and lost contact with Mrs Maugham, a former stewardess and caterer at Eaglescliffe Golf Club and Stockton's Masonic Hall.

Mr Walker was visiting friends in Darlington, where he used to live, when he picked up The Northern Echo and saw the report of Mary's abseil record.

He had a lot to catch up on because Mrs Maugham, who has been fighting cancer, which is currently in remission, has completed several abseils and plays football for the charity team, the Argyll Bombers, which has an average age of 80.

Mrs Maugham said: "We're now going to catch up on the missing years by meeting up as much as we can.''