PARIS, Dec 16 — Alex Batty, the British teenager who resurfaced in southern France after disappearing six years ago, will take a direct flight from Toulouse to London in the late afternoon today, French prosecutor Samuel Vuelta Simon said.

The boy, who left a spiritualist community in the Pyrenees mountains, disappeared at the age of 11 during a holiday with his mother and grandfather in Malaga, Spain, in 2017.

Toulouse deputy prosecutor Antoine Leroy said yesterday the youth had spent the past two years in different areas of southern France, living in "spiritual communities” with his mother, but not in a sect.

The grandfather died about six months ago, said Leroy, adding that the boy’s mother might currently be in Finland.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) earlier said they were working with French authorities to bring Batty home to his grandmother, who is his legal guardian.

France’s BFM TV has reported a search operation was underway to find Batty’s mother. — AFP