THE last-minute cancellation of a World Trade Centre appointment has left Langley Willis one of the luckiest men alive.

The North-East IT consultant had a 9am appointment in the south tower in New York the day terrorists struck last week.

However, at the last minute, the appointment was put back until 11am, meaning he was not in the tower when the hi-jacked Boeing 757 smashed into it.

Mr Willis, 28, from Hexham, Northumberland, didn't return home to his pregnant wife Judy until Tuesday.

"I was in the firm's office on 34th Street early on Tuesday morning when it was decided to put off the appointment until 11am," he said.

"While I was in the office we heard all the sirens outside. We did not think much of it at first because New York is a fairly noisy city, but then we turned on the TV and saw the planes."

Back in England, Judy had word that Langley was all right before she heard about the disaster, but didn't hear her husband's voice until 6.30pm that evening.

Mr Willis was due to fly back to the North-East last Friday, but was unable to leave New York until Tuesday because of the flight cancellations and heightened airport security.

He said: "On Saturday, we took a walk up to near where the buildings had once stood, and the sheer magnitude of the wreckage was just unbelievable. It was about ten blocks wide - the size of Hexham.

"There are walls covered in posters showing the faces of missing people. That's when it really hits home.

"There wasn't five minutes went by that we didn't hear a siren. One day we went for a walk along Broadway and were amazed by all the smoke."

Judy, 40, said that she was just glad to have her husband back home again.