A FAMILY has enjoyed an emotional reunion with their brother who sailed to Australia nearly four decades ago on a £10 passage.

Ralph Hall, who left the Grove area of Consett, County Durham, with his family seeking opportunities abroad in 1969, flew into the region greeted by his delighted sisters and brother.

Sister Doreen Atherton, 66, said: "I had not seen him - not even in a photograph - for all these years.

"Yet when I saw him come out of the gates at the airport I recognised him immediately - only his waistline had grown.

"There were tears and hugs all round."

Mr Hall, 68, said: "It was absolutely wonderful to see them all again after all this time."

He said he had decided to uproot with his family when, in the late 1960s, there were changes afoot and large billboards advertised cheap passages to Down Under.

He said: "The Australian government was offering passages for anyone who could be sponsored, as they wanted to populate the place. The fare was £10 - and my family got a cruise out of it as well."

Mr Hall moved to Sydney and later worked in Canberra, before retiring to Perth in Western Australia.

Mrs Atherton said: "We were really sad when he left with his first wife, Jean, and their four children.

"At the time it was a new opportunity and new beginnings for them. My mother was particularly upset.

"They moved around a lot and I did not hear from him for about ten years. Then I got a telephone call out of the blue. It was marvellous.

"He stayed in regular touch after that keeping us all abreast of the news. He kept promising us he would come and has finally made it. It is so nice to see him again."

Mr Hall's other siblings are Joe Hall, 81, Marie Matthews, 75, Louie Clarke, 70, and Doreen's twin sister Eleanor Glasgow, 66.

Mrs Atherton said, there was an element of sadness too - as her mother and two sisters Ethel and Kitty, died in the Eighties.

Ralph, who is with his second wife, Barbara, said: "Mutton Clog Bank used to be my playground. I went for a walk there and it has changed a lot.

"And my former home in Priestman Avenue is no longer there.