AN old soldier is celebrating after being reunited with his comrades after 57 years, and becoming a television star in the bargain.

John Coward, of Penwortham, last saw his friends while he was training to be a Second World War pilot in America.

After registering his name on a BBC website created to help former servicemen track down their friends, John was contacted and asked to appear on the radio in an attempt to contact friends Dolph and Gilbert.

And only hours after appearing on a Radio Leeds show John had his first reply.

John, 78, said: "I told the BBC approximately where my mates used to live. They put me on Radio Leeds at around 8am one Sunday morning and by 4.30pm my mate had rung up.

"It was great to get back in touch because it was 57 years ago when we last met.

"Two weeks ago we arranged to meet in Harrogate at the Majestic Hotel.

"My mate in Leeds was ill and couldn't make it, but Dolph came. We spent most of the afternoon walking round the Majestic Gardens, while the BBC filmed us."

John, who was brought up in Windermere, Cumbria, first met his pals as he stood waiting in Manchester to travel across the Atlantic to America for training.

John, who moved to Bee Lane, Penwortham, in 1947, was based in Detroit and Florida for the first years of the war while he trained to pilot flying boats.

And John and his new found friends took the weather with them when they travelled to 'sunny' Florida.

He said: "When we got to Pensacola it started to snow for the first time in 42 years! But we were very well treated by the Americans."

Now retired after running Windene tree nursery in Penwortham since the end of the war, John, who is married to Elizabeth and has one daughter, decided to try and track down his old pals. He used his son-in-law's computer to register his name on the internet and will now be featured as part of a television series on BBC2 later this month.

He explained: "What started it was me having my name on the website. When the BBC decided they were going to do this programme they got my name off the website and gave me a ring. It's a great feeling."

And to top it all off, John has been invited to a special reunion tea party at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester in two weeks. The BBC will also be there to capture the moments for the television show.

Homeground: We'll Meet Again will be shown on BBC2 at 7.30pm on Thursday, June 20.