A son is to be reunited after 30 years with the father he thought was dead.

Ian Campbell Elliot cried when his grandmother broke the tragic news to him of his dad's death in Australia.

She even showed him a newspaper cutting detailing the demise of Ian Elliot sr.

But now Ian has discovered his father is alive and well and is preparing to fly to New Zealand for an emotional reunion.

Ian, 47, last saw his father 44 years years ago, remembering him dressed in his merchant seaman's uniform as he prepared to sail.

He spotted an ad in his local newspaper from a woman he had never heard of asking him to contact her. Baffled by the sudden appeal, he got his wife Susan to make the call.

Clare Campbell who told her she had been married to Ian's dad, and he was living in New Zealand.

Ian, a baker from Blyth, Northumberland, said: "I'm in a dream. It's been a lot to take in and get my head round. I still can't believe it."