Alex Batty has celebrated his first proper Christmas on UK soil for the first time in six years.
The teenager is finally back home in Oldham with his gran Susan Cuarana and the pair said they have had the 'best Christmas ever' after being reunited over the festive period.
Alex disappeared six years ago while on holiday in Spain with his mother Melanie - who was not his legal guardian - and his grandfather David.
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The trio did not return on 8 October, 2017 as planned and the lad ended up living a nomadic lifestyle in France but said he had 'no friends' and 'no social life', so he began to plot his escape.
"I had an argument with my mum and I just thought I’m gonna leave because I can’t live with her," Alex said.
He was taken to a police station by a driver who spotted him roaming around the wilderness in the 'pitch black and pouring rain' before he flew home to the UK.
The 17-year-old is now back at home with his gran - who pulled out all the stops to give him an amazing Christmas.
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The family were keen to make up for lost time this festive season and gave Alex a bumper pack of UK goodies that he missed while he was away from home, including his favourite fizzy drink, Irn-Bru.
Susan gifted him a whopping 24 cans of the orange stuff to put a smile on his face on 25 December, as well as some of his childhood snacks that he yearned for - such as some Walkers Worcester Sauce flavoured crisps.
Speaking to The Sun, Alex said: "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.
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"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."
The teen was also treated to a new phone, an Alexa, headphones, a sketch pad, colouring pencils, a water bottle and tickets to see Manchester United take on Aston Villa this evening (26 December) at Old Trafford.
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He said he did not really celebrate Christmas when he was away 'because we were always on the move'.
Alex added: "It’s so nice to go to bed at night and wake up in the same place in the morning. I am loving the cold weather and the rain as well."
Susan revealed she had stopped celebrating Christmas when her grandson went missing due to her heartbreak, but she is now over the moon that they can do it together.
She explained: "Until a week ago, I was gearing myself up for another heartbreaking Christmas without him and to have him here celebrating with us is absolutely amazing.
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"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."
Topics: UK News, Christmas, Food And Drink
Olivia Burke