The 17-year-old had been missing for six years, before reappearing near Toulouse and picked up by a delivery driver at 3am on a rural road.

His mother, 43-year-old Melanie Batty, had moved to a campsite in the spring of this year.

She introduced herself to locals and fellow holidaymakers as Rose.

After spending the summer in a caravan, she left the campsite in September, near the town of Chalabre, after being told the hot water and heating supplies would end before the winter came, following advice from locals that it would be too cold to stay there.

A local man familiar with the campsite said Ms Batty didn't drive a vehicle, and relied on somebody else to tow her caravan to the site.

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She had last made contact with the campsite manager three weeks ago to say she would be sending a friend to collect the caravan soon.

Nobody came, and the caravan remains on site at the moment.

He added that Ms Batty rode a bicycle and had a cat with her a lot of the time.

She was alone and was never seen with anyone else. She was described as pleasant, cheerful and despite not being able to speak any French, was very polite to staff and fellow campers.

French national police have questioned those who worked at the campsite for information regarding Ms Batty's whereabouts.

She remains on a French national wanted list.

Teenager Alex is now back in the UK and has been reunited with his grandmother near Manchester.