Missing Brit Alex Batty has spoken out about how he escaped his remote life with his mother, having gone missing without a trace six years ago.
Alex Batty, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was just 11 when he went missing in Spain in October 2017.
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He had been on holiday in Marbella with mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, who was 58.
At the time, the pair had been prohibited from being with Alex - who was in the legal guardianship of his grandmother.
Alex was finally found alive and well after turning up alone in Revel, near Toulouse, France, last week.
He has now told of how he managed to escape the mysterious life he'd led since disappearing, explaining how his mother was 'anti-government' and 'anti-vax'.
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In a new interview with The Sun - his first since resurfacing - Alex said he had recently persuaded mum Melanie to move them into a rented farmhouse closer to civilisation, after previously living in the mountains.
He said his escape plan began in the town of Quillan, a commune in the Aude department in southern France, recalling: “To try and be clever I walked to Quillan then back. I did that so when I talked about asking for directions in Quillan and getting lost, it was half true.
“I didn’t get lost. I knew exactly where I was going. I just wanted to circle back for that to be a true story. I’m a very competent walker. I knew my way around the area so I knew where there were open springs so I could get water."
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Alex said he 'slept outside on the ground', which was 'freezing' and would use 'leaves and grass' if he needed the toilet.
“My plan was to get to Toulouse and get as far away as possible," he continued.
“But I was so knackered when the delivery driver picked me up I just blurted out a story.
“I thought, ‘Oh Zack, what have you done’. Zack was the name I used when someone asked me.
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“I wasn’t even hitchhiking when he picked me up. I was walking across a little bridge. He said he stopped because he saw I had a skateboard. It was pouring with rain and pitch black as it was 3am.
“I told him my story and I don’t think he actually believed me so he just carried on with his work.
“He was delivering parcels so I helped him because it’s the least I could do. He let me use his phone to contact my grandma."
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Alex said the delivery driver then called the police, before a squad car nearby took him to the nearest police station.
He went on: “I’m in f***ing bits on the floor because I’m thinking ‘S**t I shouldn’t have said anything’. They fingerprinted me about five different times and were sending photos to my grandma.
“Two gendarmes took me to another police station where I had a shower. I sat on the couch and relaxed a little bit until an English translator came.
“On Wednesday I spent the night at a foster home and I stayed there Thursday and Friday.
“On Friday they told me I could fly home without a passport and on Saturday I got to Toulouse airport and my other grandad was waiting for me with two police officers and my social worker. I was so happy to see him I gave him a big hug.”
Topics: UK News
Jess Hardiman