Alex Batty several years ago before he was taken to Europe by his mum and grandad (Picture: PA)
Missing teen Alex Batty has celebrated his first Christmas at home with gifts of crisps, Irn-Bru and football tickets.
It comes just weeks after the 17-year-old returned from six years abroad, where he was taken by his mother and grandfather.
The pair had initially fled to Spain with Alex but then embarked on an alternative lifestyle in France, before Alex was found and reunited with his gran and legal guardian Susan Cuarana.
He was located by police in France around two weeks ago the delighted pair have now spent their first Christmas together since he disappeared.
Knowing his childhood loves, his gran got him Worcestershire sauce crisps, a crate of Irn-Bru and tickets to see Manchester United.
Alex told The Sun: ‘I loved Irn-Bru when I was little and used to get some from the corner shop whenever I could. The same for Worcestershire sauce flavoured crisps.
Alex with his mum and grandad in a Facebook video sent back home during their time abroad
Alex’s gran Susan Cuarana is still not over the shock of her grandson being home (Picture: PA)
‘So my gran surprised me by tracking down a massive pack of cans and a couple of family-sized bags of crisps.
‘I could have just tucked into them for Christmas dinner.’
He added: ‘When I was away, we never really celebrated Christmas because we were always on the move. It’s so nice to go to bed at night and wake up in the same place in the morning.’
His delighted gran has loved spending time with Alex since he went missingin 2017 and said she was still not over the shock of seeing him again after so long.
She said; ‘I still can’t quite believe Alex is home. I have to pinch myself. When he disappeared I thought I’d never see him again and it’s taking some getting used to waking up in the morning and having him in the house.
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‘Until a week ago, I was gearing myself up for another heart-breaking Christmas without him and to have him here celebrating with us is absolutely amazing.’
Alex, from Greater Manchester, was found wandering alone in Revel, near Toulouse, earlier this month.
Despite them being barred from seeing Alex, he was taken was on holiday in Marbella with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, who was then 58.
They were due to return from their trip after two weeks but never returned, and are believed to have taken him across Europe during the six intervening years.
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Alex Batty’s gran said he was having the ‘best Christmas ever’ after finally returning from France.