Missing teen Alex: 'It still doesn't feel real I'm back'

YOUNGSTER WHO DISAPPEARED AT 11 TELLS OF ADJUSTING TO NEW LIFE AFTER RETURN TO UK

- PATRICK HILL

WHEN Alex Batty turns 18 tomorrow there will be two notable absentees from the celebrations... mum Melanie and grandad David.

The pair are still on the run following his shock reappearance last year after he went missing with them at the age of 11.

And Alex admits Melanie, 43, and 64-year-old David will not risk contacting him for fear of giving away where they are while facing an international child abduction probe.

But he says he has no issue with their silence as he does not want the police to find them.

Alex said: "Mum did what she did out of love. It's what she thought was best and that's all you can really do, isn't it? She and my grandad did it with the best intentions.

"I know they're not going to get in contact. They're definitely not going to risk it. If they get in contact, it'll be when they're 100% sure they're all right. They won't rush it for my birthday.

"I hope the police don't find them. I love them both but if I don't see them again it's not a big deal. You can love someone and not talk to them.

"Mum probably wants to see me but she can't, can she? She will probably be angry that I left. I think she'll be angry that I didn't listen to her.

"If I could speak to them both now, I would just say, 'I hope you're all right' and tell them I'm all right."

Alex went missing in 2017 after Melanie and David failed to return him from a holiday abroad. They embarked on an "alternative" nomadic lifestyle, regularly moving around Spain and France.

Alex finally escaped life on the road on December 13, after having an argument with his mum and leaving the isolated farmhouse in the French Pyrenees where they were living.