A PEDMORE pensioner who was put into care as a child has enjoyed an emotional reunion with three sisters she didn't know existed.

For circumstances unknown to her, Jean Hill was placed in the Barnardo's children's home in Kempsey, near Worcester, when she was two-years-old.

Although separated from her older siblings Eddie and Dorothy, she was soon fostered by a couple who brought her up in Lye.

Years later, her foster parents tracked down Eddie and took him in but Jean had no contact with Dorothy until she was 15.

It was during her reunion with her older sibling that she learned she had another brother and sister.

Jean, aged 75, said: "I tried to find them but Barnardo's wouldn't tell me anything and we didn't have the internet then so I couldn't get any information."

Although she had often wondered about her long-lost family, she was none the wiser about her siblings until her daughter, Linda Lloyd, revealed she had turned detective and tracked down the daughter of Jean’s eldest sister Mabel.

She said: "Linda started talking to Mabel's daughter Christine, who told her I had two more sisters and a brother, who died last year called Charlie, who was a country and western singer.

"I felt numb when she told me but I'm so grateful to her."

Days later, she received a call from Mabel, aged 82, and went on to speak to Irene, aged 80 and Millie, aged 73, who were all keen to meet up.

Jean said: "They knew about me but Barnardo's wouldn't give them any details. They even tried to find me through Cilla Black's show Surprise Surprise at one time but the researcher couldn't get enough information to find me."

The three sisters travelled from Barrow-in-Furness to meet Jean, 78-year-old Dorothy and Eddie, aged 77, at The Talbot, in High Street, Stourbridge, on Saturday (October 25).

Despite being separated for decades, Jean said it was like they had never been apart: "It was fantastic to see them. I'm a singer so I took my music along and we were dancing and singing, we all had a lot in common.

"I made a rule not to discuss what happened when we were children but we talked about our lives and will be keeping in touch. I've got one fantastic family."