A MAN has been reunited with family he has not seen for 43 years with the help of the Echo.

Andrew Le Maitre, 52, who lives in Kettering, Northamptonshire, wrote an appeal in the letters page in July attempting to trace his father John William Le Maitre, who was born in Weymouth in 1925 and lived there for most of his life.

Born in West Drayton in Middlesex, Andrew hadn't seen his father since 1963 when his parents split up and he also had no brothers or sisters.

But his letter sparked a number of replies and he has now found details of his father's life and made contact with cousins he has not seen since 1959.

Andrew said he was overwhelmed by the response after trying many other methods, including the internet and registry records without success and he recommends that anyone wishing to trace their family should write to the local newspaper.

He added: "I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to the Echo and all the people that took the time and effort to respond, I am very grateful to all of them, including those people who preferred to remain anonymous as I cannot reply to them personally."

Up to 15 relatives and friends contacted Andrew by phone after the appeal was published and he also received five letters from people who knew his father.

He said: "I found out that my father died in 1987 so it has been quite emotional, but many people, including some of his old army pals, have come forward to tell me some very interesting things.

"It's quite strange because he actually appeared on Blue Peter once for building models of all 92 Football League grounds, and he was featured in the Echo in 1969 for climbing the Matterhorn."

Another article in the Echo in 1985 highlighted John Le Maitre's modelling feats after he completed a replica of Weymouth FC's old ground 'the Rec'.

At the time, the football league planned to feature John's models as a unique display of memorabilia to mark their centenary year.

Andrew admits that he had always been curious about his father's whereabouts but never followed it up until his wife Lorna started tracing her own family tree.

He said: "When she began researching her history I started to think about it more and tried searching on the internet but it seemed as though everyone with that name had disappeared.

"I could remember the names of my cousins from when they came to visit us when I was just nine years old. They are three daughters of my father's sister and can remember me quite well even though it was so long ago.

"I have been able to exchange photos with some people and I especially remember an old photograph of my father when he was serving in the army. The soldier sat next to him on the photo was from Weymouth and he actually contacted me by a letter, which was amazing.

"I plan to visit my cousins in Weymouth soon as there still seems to be so much to find out."