Alex Batty feared mother and grandad would be 'locked up' - and doubts he'll ever see them again after leaving France

3 January 2024, 10:15 | Updated: 3 January 2024, 10:20

Alex Batty has revealed he does not want his mother and grandad to go to jail - and said that fear is why it took him so long to leave.

The teenager vanished while on holiday in Spain with the pair six years ago.

They then embarked on a nomadic, alternative lifestyle as his legal guardian, grandmother Susan Caruana, was left worrying what happened to him.

But he suddenly re-emerged in the Pyrenees in France, hitching a ride to police before being reunited with Ms Caruana and spending Christmas with her.

Read more: Alex Batty says he educated himself by ‘reading Harry Potter 20 times’ during six years without school

But his mother Melanie, 43, and grandfather David, 64, have vanished.

"I don't think I will see any of them again. I'd like to see my grandfather again," he told Good Morning Britain.

Alex left his mother as they stayed at a rented home in Villefort on December 11.

The 17-year-old has admitted he made up a story about hiking across the mountains for days because he did not want to get them in trouble.

He has been interviewed by police in the UK and a child abduction investigation is under way.

Read more: Police launch 'kidnap' investigation after teen Alex Batty returned home to the UK six years after he went missing

Now, Alex has revealed: "That's why I didn't come home sooner. All I worried about was them getting locked up."

He said: "We stayed in a lot of caravans and a lot of houses.

"Always up mountains, hours away from any kind of village or anything like that. One day I just thought okay, I can't take this anymore.

"I knew that everything was already kind of in place to leave where we were so that if I were to have left they would be gone by the time police arrived.

"I've had one friend in the last six years that's been my age. Everyone else has been a lot older than me.

"So I'm very comfortable talking to adults but with children my age, it's kind of hard."

Alex is now back with Mrs Caruana, from Oldham, and the pair enjoyed Christmas together.

"When I was away, we never really celebrated Christmas because we were always on the move. It's so nice to go to bed at night and wake up in the same place in the morning," he said.

"I am loving the cold weather and the rain as well."

Melanie may have travelled to Finland for the northern lights, but investigators have not ruled out the possibility she remains in the countryside in France.

Alex said she is a "great person" and he loves her but said she has not been a "great mum".

It was also previously thought David could have died, but Alex, who says he enjoyed a good relationship with his grandad, has said he is still alive.