A BURNLEY man, whose heavy drinking caused a rift in his family, has been reunited with his daughter on ITV's Jeremy Kyle show.

John McGinty, 58, of Holmes Square, had never met his daughter, Wendy Clough, 35, until 1999.

She moved in with him but the pair lost touch again because of his heavy drinking.

Now, after talking through their problems on the show, which was filmed on Friday, they are looking forward to seeing one another regularly.

Next week, Wendy, who lives in Didsbury, Manchester, will travel to Burnley to introduce her father to her new husband, Adam.

Former miner Mr McGinty said the show, and Kyle's famous tough questioning of guests, had "taught him a lesson", and he was now determined to have a proper relationship with Wendy, a call centre operator.

Until their first meeting nine years ago, the father and daughter had never even seen a picture of one another.

Mr McGinty and Wendy's mother, Marilyn Clough, who died in 1994, split up before their daughter was born, and Wendy was brought up by her maternal grandparents.

Mr McGinty said Wendy's grandparents would not let him see his daughter because of his drinking.

Ms Clough, who contacted the ITV daytime show, said: "I had moved to Manchester to make a new life with Adam, and I had my phone stolen so I had to change my number and lost my dad's.

"Jeremy was really hard on my dad - I told them I didn't want dad to be made to look like an idiot, but he just laid into him over the drinking. It was awful.

"They are not sure if our slot will go out now - it depends whether they have room for it in the editing, but that doesn't matter to me.

"I didn't go on to get on television, I went to get back in touch with my dad.

"It was great to see him again and go through everything with him.

"Dad's always been a drinker and I don't expect him to turn into a monk because I know he's not like that and neither am I. I just want him to understand how I feel."

Mr McGinty said he was excited about meeting his new son-in-law, and hoped to build up a good relationship with Wendy.

He said: "I have thought about it a lot since we were there and it's taught me a lesson.

"Jeremy was really rough with me - I couldn't get a word in edgeways and he made me sound like a really bad one, but that doesn't matter because I'm back in touch with Wendy and I'm going to keep in touch with her.

"If it's not shown, I want a copy for myself so I can show all my friends."

Mr McGinty drinks at his local, the Britannia Inn, often with his sister Annette, 55.

She said: "John doesn't drink that much. The trouble with him is that he doesn't like being alone and he comes to the pub for company."

Landlord Steven Gwilt added: "He's a nice laid-back fella.

"He just comes in for a couple of pints of bitter."