A LONG-awaited hug was the icing on the cake for Sylvia Cable, when she was reunited with long-lost brother after more than 40 years - thanks to The Evening Star's website.

A LONG-awaited hug was the icing on the cake for Sylvia Cable, when she was reunited with long-lost brother after more than 40 years - thanks to The Evening Star's website.

Sylvia, 60, of Thorn Way, Felixstowe, described meeting her sibling, Ron Barnes on his return from Australia, as 'out of this world.'

She said: "It's fantastic to have him back. Since 1962 there always seemed to be something missing, like a lost piece of a jigsaw, but now he has come back my life feels complete again. This is the icing on the cake. It's wonderful."

Mr Barnes greeted his sister at Heathrow Airport on Sunday, with the solitary word 'Sis.'

She managed to utter 'Ron,' before they both burst into tears in each other's arms and were choked with emotion.

It was a freezing cold morning, that came as a shock to his system after putting up with temperatures reaching around 40 Celsius in his adopted homeland.

Mrs Cable's sons, Andrew Fulcher, 38, Christopher Cable, 34 were also waiting to meet an uncle who never knew they existed.

Mr Barnes said: "It was unbelievable because we recognised each other although we had never even seen each other before. There was just some kind of connection."

Mr Barnes, 64, went to Australia to work for two years and then wanted to travel around New Zealand for another two before returning to England. His plans changed when met his new wife and settled down on his own farm on the Gold Coast.

"By this time we had all moved on and completely lost touch, although we always thought about each other." Mrs Cable said.

Last year Mr Barnes came across the Evening Star's Finding Friends website and posted a picture of his two sisters on it. This was seen by Sue Biddle, of Trimley St Martin, who recognised Mrs Cable's younger sister, Gillian Bastion, from her school days.

She contacted Mrs Cable who then emailed her brother.

"If it hadn't been for Sue we may have never found each other," Mrs Cable said, "Ron and I are now treating her as part of the family in gratitude."

The flight was a Christmas present paid for by Mr Barnes' son as the retired builder could not afford it himself.

During his two-month stay, Mrs Cable will take her brother back to their birthplace in Swaffham to reminisce about their childhood days.

Now fully recovered from his jet lag, Mr Barnes can't wait to meet up with more of his 11 nephews and nieces.

He also wants to go through the Channel Tunnel so he can boast to his mates back in Australia about the landmark.

Weblink: www.eveningstar.co.uk

1969: The first flight of Concorde.

1977: The film Star Wars is released and Elvis dies

1978: The first test tube baby is born

1981: IBM make the first Personal Computer

1981: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is identified

1986: Phantom of the Opera has world premiere in London

1996: EU ban British beef sales because of mad cow disease

1998: Hurricane Mitch kills 9,000 in central America.

2001: Global temperatures predicted to rise by up to ten degrees Farenheit by end of century.