British backpacker Jamie Neale has been found alive after going missing in the Australian bush for nearly two weeks, the Foreign Office said.

Mr Neale, 19, from Muswell Hill, north London, had not been seen since July 3 when he left his hostel in the town of Katoomba, New South Wales, for a walk in the Blue Mountains.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “The Australian police have notified British consular staff that Mr Neale has been found alive. We’re providing consular assistance.”

New South Wales Police said in a statement: “About 11.30am (on Wednesday), two bushwalkers alerted emergency services to advise they had come across a man who identified himself as Jamie Neale near the Narrow Neck fire trail, near Katoomba.

“Police Rescue officers, using a Rural Fire Service vehicle, made their way to the location and confirmed the identity of the man.

“He’s been taken to Katoomba Hospital for treatment of dehydration and exposure.”

Mr Neale’s father, Richard Cass, who had been preparing to leave Sydney on a flight, has been flown by Polair from Sydney Airport to the hospital, where he will be reunited with his son, according to the statement.

A hospital spokeswoman said Mr Neale was in a stable condition at Katoomba’s Blue Mountains Hospital. Television pictures showed him getting out of a police car unaided and walking towards the hospital door.

Mr Neale’s mother, Jean Neale, said she had not believed she was never going to see her son again.

She told Sky News: “I never gave up hoping, I always knew he’d be coming home. He’s determined and if he sets his mind to something, he will do it. I told all the family and his friends that he was coming home and I had no doubts about that. That kept them strong and in turn that kept me strong.”