LIVE: Alex Batty set to return home from France in the next few days - latest updates

Alex Batty is set to return home to the UK in the next few days, police have told a press conference this morning (December 15).

The now 17-year-old from Oldham, was 11 when he first went missing in 2017 after going on a family holiday to Spain with his mother Melanie and grandad David.

His grandmother - and legal guardian - Susan Caruana, said she believed her ex-partner and daughter had run away because they wanted Alex to have an 'alternative lifestyle'.

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In the early hours of Wednesday, six years after going missing, the teenager was found walking alone near the city of Toulouse by student Fabien Accidini. The teenager said he had been hiking in nearby mountains for more than four days in an attempt to return to England, the PA news agency reports.

Alex revealed that since being kidnapped by his mother they had lived in a luxury house in Spain with around 10 people as part of a 'spiritual community', before moving to France in around 2021, according to the student. His grandmother said she was 'happy he's well and safe and he's coming home'.

This morning, Greater Manchester Police held a press conference after Alex was found. Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes, read a statement at GMP's HQ in Newton Heath.

He said: "This is a huge moment for Alex, his family and for the community in Oldham."

"Alex and his family remain our focus. We still have some work to do to establish the full circumstances surrounding his disappearance and where he has been for all those years."

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