Two women from Shropshire have enjoyed an emotional meeting with a family they never knew existed.

Hairdresser Heather Richards, from Myddle, and her mother Marjorie Law, from Oswestry, were tracked down by Phillippa Longley Ryder, daughter of Marjorie’s long-lost sister. It had been an extensive search for Phillippa, but the 51-year-old, who lives in France, said the end result was worth the wait.

Her mother, Eileen Mckenzie Jubber, grew up in South Africa with sisters Margaret and Marjorie, but Eileen left for England in 1948 and lost contact with them.

Eileen died in 1989, without ever again hearing from her family, but Phillippa was determined to track down her relatives.

She visited South Africa and managed to find an address for Marjorie from the 1970s – in Wolverhampton.

“We had always assumed the family stayed in South Africa,” she said.

And a letter to the Shropshire Star’s sister paper, the Express & Star in Wolverhampton, proved fruitful.

Phillippa said: “This led to contact from a reader who had been to school with my aunt’s children. A second letter came to the attention of another reader who knew a friend of Heather’s.”

It emerged Marjorie’s family were now living in Shropshire, and contact was made.

Since then, the family have exchanged letters, e-mails and photographs, before Heather visited her in France.

And now, Phillippa, her husband Richard, 52, and 12-year-old son Oliver, have visited England to meet 86-year-old Marjorie.

Heather said: “Like Phillippa, I knew very little about my mother’s family and I was over the moon to make contact.

“It’s been a very emotional time for us all, especially for my mother, who is delighted to meet her niece after all this time.”