TWO Bolton-born brothers who were separated from their family as young boys have enjoyed an emotional reunion.

David and Derek Morris met up with their other brothers Ronnie and Keith — the first time the four had been together in 60 years.

The brothers were separated as young boys after being sent to different orphanages from their then Plymouth home.

David and Derek, the elder of the siblings, were born in Farnworth before their family moved to Plymouth as their father was in the Royal Navy.

While in Plymouth, the boys were placed in an orphanage because their father was away a lot and their mother couldn’t cope.

They were then fostered into separate families around the country and lost contact with one another.

In recent years, Dave Morris, aged 68 and his wife Maureen have made it their mission to bring the brothers back together.

The couple, who live in Washington in the North East worked with the Salvation Army to organise a reunion at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park ground, a place which holds special memories for the brothers from their childhood.

The Bolton-born brothers, David and Derek, travelled from Washington and London respectively, with Ronnie and Keith arriving from Padstow and Plymouth.

David is deaf and struggles to communicate, but his wife Maureen said he was delighted with how the reunion went.

She said: “When I met David he had already been trying to trace his family but had no luck, so we decided to search together.

“We tried everything, including television shows like Surprise Surprise, but had no luck.

“Eventually through the Salvation Army we tracked down Ronnie in Padstow about 15 years ago.”

Having got back in touch with Ronnie, the couple set about bringing all four brothers back together, something they achieved at Home Park last month.

Mrs Morris added: “David was very emotional, he always felt he had lost out on having a family and now they are back in touch. This was something he always wanted to do.”