Two sisters, separated during the hardship of war, have been reunited in Norfolk for the first time in 64 years.

Two sisters, separated during the hardship of war, have been reunited in Norfolk for the first time in 64 years.

The emotional get-together followed painstaking research by younger sister Vicky Salmon and a friend.

She was determined to track down the family she left as a newborn baby when her parents gave her up for adoption.

Vicky's search ended when she telephoned Janet Brown at her home in North Walsham's Thomas Dix Court and broke the news that she was her missing sister.

Vicky travelled to Norfolk from her home in Teversal, Nottinghamshire, to give sister Janet, 68, a big hug.

Janet grew up with her parents and three other siblings in the Nottinghamshire mining community of Bilsthorpe.

She remembers gossip as a teenager about a younger sister called Bernice, and the tale was confirmed in later years by a family member.

Meanwhile, baby Bernice had been renamed Vicky by her adoptive parents who brought her up in another mining village, about 15 miles away.

Janet said: “Vicky rang me out of the blue. I asked her: 'Are you Bernice?' and she said she was. I was so thrilled. I've thought about her over the years and wondered where she was.”

Janet moved to North Walsham eight years ago after the death of her son, Kevin. The sisters have since found out that Vicky has been a regular visitor to the Norfolk Broads over the years.

Vicky discovered aged nine that she was adopted when she found an official paper hidden in a cupboard. She did not start looking for her birth family until 2002 and got help last year from a friend investigating his own family tree on the internet.

Janet added: “It's just so lovely that she came looking and found me. I want to shout from the rooftops and share my joy with all and sundry.”