A FATHER and daughter have described their joy at being reunited for the first time in 25 years -with help from the Internet.

Lesa Ferguson, 29, who was separated from her father, Jimmy Caulfield, as a child, met him again days after finding his name on a voters' roll while surfing the Internet.

She also discovered she had half siblings, Michael, 21, and Claire, 18, who had always known of her existence.

Ms Ferguson, from Stanley, in County Durham, said: "I was overjoyed. I had always wanted to find him.

"What is more, my father had being trying to trace me for me for the past 25 years as well."

Ms Ferguson, who lives in West Yorkshire, said: "My mother moved away from Stanley when I was four years old and changed our names by deed poll more than once.

"It was only when I was 19 that I learned my father's full name and I had been trying to find him since."

Mr Caulfield, of Langley Park, near Durham, said: "I was overjoyed. I had been looking for Lesa for more than 20 years.

"I had no clue where they had gone to. We tried the Salvation Army, put advertisements in newspapers and tried voters' rolls.

"When I got a call from my wife saying Lesa had been in touch, it took my breath away.

"I could not speak for 15 minutes. I was crying in front of my friends, and I am a big lad, but they all understood."

He also learnt he had a grandson, Shain, seven.

Ms Ferguson now wants to move to the North-East as soon as possible.