Search continues for Alex's mum

MYSTERY REMAINS AFTER TEENAGER RETURNS TO BRITAIN

- GRAEME MURRAY, PETER ALLEN, STEPHEN TOPPING & JOSEPH TIMAN

THE search for Alex Batty's mum is continuing across Europe after the teenager returned to the UK this weekend.

Seventeen-year-old Alex spent his second night back in Britain on Sunday after more than six years.

He disappeared after going on a family holiday to Spain in 2017 with his mother Melanie Batty, who is not Alex's legal guardian, and grandad David Batty.

The Oldham youngster has reportedly said his mum went to Finland, as Interpol steps up efforts to find her.

An investigating source in Toulouse believes much of the information circulating around Alex's mum, who is alleged to have abducted Alex, 'does not add up.

The source said: "The boy claims that his mother has gone to Finland to see the Northern Lights, so the search for her is continuing across Europe.

"This does not mean that the search has stopped in France. All kinds of information is circulating, and a lot of it does not add up."

The source added: "If she did travel to Finland, then she would absolutely have needed a passport. This would make tracing her journey relatively easy."