I have to leave home so I'm closer to my search for Ben

Mum moves to Turkey 33 years after Kos horror

- LUCY THORNTON

THE mother of missing Ben Needham has quit Britain for Turkey so she can be nearer the island where he vanished.

Kerry Needham, 52, says she would not be able to live on Kos where her son disappeared as it makes her feel sick.

The mum, from Sheffield, says she has done the next best thing by moving to neighbouring Turkey.

She said that from her new home she is able to drive to the port of Bodrum where she can catch a 30-minute ferry to the Greek island where her nightmare began 33 years ago.

Ben was 21 months old in July 1991 when he vanished as he played outside a farmhouse his grandparents were renovating in the village of Iraklis while Kerry worked at a nearby hotel.

Kerry stayed in Bodrum in 2016 while British police carried out the second of two searches on Kos, looking for Ben's remains. The first hunt was in 2012.

UK officers think Ben was the victim of a digger accident which was covered up. But no evidence was found and Kerry is convinced her son is still alive.

The mum said it is painful moving away from her parents, 30-year-old daughter Leighanna, and two grandchildren, who are aged six and 10.

But she added: "Quitting the UK to live in Turkey is easier to help me do what I need to do to find Ben.

SHUDDER

"I had to make a kind of heartbreaking choice. But it's easier for me to travel backwards and forwards to Greece.

"It was becoming physically and financially impossible to travel backwards and forwards.

"We have been doing it for 33 years and unfortunately haven't got finances to do that any more.