ORPHANED, shipped out of Britain and raised by tribesman in the African bush it's fair to say Tony Bell enjoyed a remarkable childhood.

And now the Burnley resident who also found time to live on the freezing Pennine Moors before sneaking back to Africa has re-lived his amazing memories of youth.

For Tony, of Woodbine Gardens, has charted his exciting early life in his new book "A Child's Odyssey".

After his parents both perished in the Second World War, aged five he was shipped from Burnley to Africa with the intention of living with an uncle.

But tragedy struck on the way and his life took a bizarre twist.

"The escort who was taking me dropped down dead and I was left in the middle of Africa. I was taken in by a local tribe who used to work on my uncle's farm and they educated me in things like surviving in the bush, hunting cattle, water carrying and story-telling.

"After six or seven years I was caught by white authorities who were appalled that I had been living with an African tribe."

And so it was back to Britain he went, to an Auntie Gertrude, who lived at Ridge Farm in Burnley."

And he admits his first impressions of the East Lancashire town were far from impressive.

In the book he writes: "Unfortun-ately, most if not all of my first impressions of Burnley were strongly influenced by the thick layer of sooty smoke that seemed to hang over the whole town, which was ugly and depressing.

"I still remember the scene from the Ridge looked for all the world like a black and white photograph, without a bit of colour anywhere. It made me feel bad for the people who lived there."

And after an unhappy time in East Lancashire he mischievously managed to return to Africa via the Pennine moors in 1948.

"I was away for about two weeks on the moors. I drank from milk urns and I killed a sheep for food and clothing."

When he was found he was placed in a special school in Stockport but he didn't stay there long, and, during a school trip to the docks, he climbed aboard a tramp steamer to South Africa.

That was as a teenager. Forty years later he felt ready to return to Burnley where he has remained.

He said: "It was a different childhood compared with many. The book is far more than my adventure, it's a unique insight into my determination to succeed."

l The book is published by Nu-Age Press and costs £6.99.