Police end probe into teen's six-year disappearance

Police have called off a criminal investigation into the disappearance of British teenager Alex Batty, who returned to the UK in 2024 after going missing for six years.

The boy from Oldham vanished in 2017 aged 11 after going on holiday with his mother and grandfather, before he was found in France in 2023.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said a probe into child abduction had been dropped as his family did not support it and there was "no realistic chance of prosecution".

Det Supt Matt Walker said: "The right thing to do is bring closure to this chapter of Alex and his family's lives, particularly as this is the outcome they wished for."

Alex was discovered in the foothills of the Pyrenees in south-western France close to the city of Toulouse on 13 December 2023, after he was last seen in the port of Malaga six years earlier.

The teenager said he, his mother and grandfather, who were not his legal guardians, had lived a "nomadic lifestyle", after staying in communes and caravans in the area.

Detectives opened an abduction investigation after the teenager was found by a delivery driver who spotted him walking on a road.

Alex had previously said he did not want his mother or grandfather to go to jail over his disappearance, adding he delayed returning home because he was "worried about them getting locked up".

But the probe has now been dropped by police.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.