A FARNWORTH man adopted as a baby has been reunited with his family after a 30 year search to track them down.

John Alexander, aged 45, began trying to find his mother and sisters when he was only 15.

His task was complicated by a break-in at a Bolton social services office during which all the paperwork relating to his adoption was lost.

But today Mr Alexander, of Kildare Street, was celebrating after meeting the mother and the rest of his family, who for the first 12 years of his life he never knew he had.

Mr Alexander learned that he was adopted as a baby when he was 12. He vowed at the age of 15 -- after meeting his future wife, Julie -- to spend the rest of his life, if need be, tracking down his natural family.

The break-in at the social services office was a major setback in his search. It left him with few clues about his mother and the area where she was living when he was adopted. Telephone calls and letters to various agencies over the years did not help him.

But his luck changed when his daughter Amy, aged 23, heard from a friend at work, of a company, After Adoption, which specialised in finding the natural parents of adopted people. John and Julie contacted it in 2001, and within 18 months, a letter had been sent to the home of his newly discovered sister, Ann McCord, who lived with his mother, Nancy Castle, in Burscough, Lancashire.

His mother had been forced to put John up for adoption 45 years ago due to family pressure, as she already had four children.

Ann, aged 47, initially thought the letter she received was junk mail, as she had never been told about her adopted brother. But a second letter confirmed that John wanted to meet the family he never knew. Just days later, John and his family joined mother, Ann, and second sister Linda Holt, for the biggest party of their lives -- and a tearful reunion.

Sadly, John learned that his natural father, Wilfred Simm, and sisters Edna and Betty, had died years earlier.

Mr Alexander, who also has a 19-year-old son called John, said the reunion was everything he ever wanted.

"It was absolutely fantastic -- better than winning the lottery. My mum had not wanted to give me up, and said she always knew I'd find her.

"She was so happy to meet her grandchildren, and Ann and I do not want to leave each other. It has given my mum a new lease of life." He said without his wife he would never have found his family. He said: "I can't even put words together to thank her at the moment. I am very appreciative."

Julie, aged 47, said: "I have never seen John so happy. There are just tears and tears all the time. We have been married 27 years and he has often looked in the mirror, wondering who he really was."

He now hopes his case will be an inspiration to others. Mr Alexander and his family now make several trips each week to see mother Nancy, Ann and Linda. The families are preparing for more exciting celebrations in July to mark the wedding of John's daughter Amy -- and his long-lost mother's 80th birthday.