A TEACHER from Craven Arms is back home after being held hostage for four months in Libya.

David Bolam, aged 63, had been held in the north African state since May.

He had been a teacher at the International School in Benghazi which is now closed.

The story has only just emerged as there was a news blackout at the request of the family and the Foreign Office.

At the end of August a video was released in which Mr Bolam appealed to primeminister David Cameron to help secure his release.

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne, who has been in contact with the family throughout the ordeal, said that he was delighted by the news.

“I have been in touch with his wife during his ordeal over recent months and know how relieved she is that he has returned safely home,” said Philip Dunne.

“David is a dedicated English teacher who had returned to Benghazi to help rebuild the international school of which he was a director, after he had been evacuated during the Arab Spring.

"He was trying to help young people in Libya gain a good education.

“I share in the joy and relief of his family and friends that he has been released and returned safely home."

The circumstances of his capture and the group involved in taking him have not been revealed but it has been reported that a ransom was paid.

However, the UK Government had no involvement in any payment.