PARIS - Alex Batty, the British teenager who resurfaced in southern France after disappearing six years ago, will take a direct flight from Toulouse to London in the late afternoon on Dec 16, French prosecutor Samuel Vuelta Simon said.

The boy, who left a spiritualist community in the Pyrenees mountains, disappeared at the age of 11 during a holiday with his mother and grandfather in Malaga, Spain, in 2017.

Toulouse deputy prosecutor Antoine Leroy said on Dec 15 that the youth had spent the past two years in different areas of southern France, living in “spiritual communities” with his mother, but not in a sect.

The grandfather died about six months ago, said Mr Leroy, adding that the boy's mother might currently be in Finland.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) earlier said they were working with the French authorities to bring Alex home to his grandmother, who is his legal guardian.

France's BFM TV has reported a search operation was under way to find his mother. REUTERS