A FATHER and daughter who have not seen each other since she was a few months old have been reunited thanks to an appeal in The Lancashire Telegraph.

Legal secretary Donna Simpson, 28, from Barnstaple in Devon appeared in The Lancashire Telegraph on Wednesday appealing for information on her father who lived with her in Darwen when she was born.

Her father, Michael Charles Williams, 51, who still lives in the town, emailed her the same evening after seeing the story and Donna telephoned him back straight away.

She said father and daughter spent hours catching up on the lost years.

She said: "It took my breath away, I was a jibbering wreck and I wasn't making any sense. I was expecting somebody who didn't want to know. I'd built a wall up to get ready for that kind of reaction and I'm still trying to get my head around it all.

"I didn't think it would every happen and I've not got back into normal' mode yet."

Donna discovered she has a younger half brother and a younger half sister.

Mr Williams spoke to his grandson, Donna's son eight-year-old Brandon, for the first time on Thursday night.

Donna visited Darwen a few years ago to find Mr Williams and even remembers driving past his place of work at Frank Barnes scrap metal merchants little knowing her father was working there.

Donna was spurred into trying to contact her dad by doctors who wanted to find out more about her family's medical history due to her suffering a severe form of Type 1 diabetes.

She has now got an appointment with her doctors next week to discuss what she has learnt from her father and how it can help her. Donna was born in the town on June 4, 1978 but then her mum moved back to Plymouth and Donna lost contact with her dad.

He tried to make contact when Donna was four-years-old but her mum did not allow it.

Father and daughter will meet for the first time on May 25 when Donna, her husband Mitch, 41, and Brandon visit Darwen.