THE family of James Winter, the Darlington man whose apartment is near where the World Trade Centre stood, has finally made contact with him.

Mr Winter, 30, works as a systems analyst in New York, where he lives with his girlfriend Rachel Ward, also from Darlington.

He had described his horror as he witnessed the planes crash into the twin towers of the famous building.

Yesterday the families of the couple in Darlington expressed their fears for their safety, as they had not heard of either of them after the World Trade Centre collapsed.

However, they had phone calls from them at around 10pm last night, explaining they had been evacuated to a school in New Jersey being used as a crisis centre.

Mr Winter's sister Lindsay said today: "We haven't heard from them today, but it's still early there. We were relieved to hear from him last night though, he said the phone lines in his building were down so he couldn't phone from there. They seem fine."

James Winter's mother Mary said: "I'm a bit worried, he was in a rescue centre last night and I don't think he will have had much sleep, no clothes to change into, no money.

"I'm devastated and so worried. The whole of Manhatten is shut, no-one is allowed to get in. His appartment's still there, but all his things inside have been covered in dust. The whole building is shattered.

"He lives opposite the building, the twin towers, but his building is still standing, but it's all dust and dirt."