A Bradford-born woman who has not seen her 31-year-old brother since he was a young boy has been reunited with him - live on German television.

Karen Whitworth, who now lives in Scarborough, was told by a friend about an appeal in the Telegraph & Argus for her to get in touch.

And two weeks later she was flown to Germany, where her brother, Stephen Burke, now lives, for an emotional reunion on the das Erste channel Fliege show in front of 1.2 million viewers.

But Karen said she and her friend Karen Hanson nearly did not get to Germany on time due to bad weather. They were diverted from their 10.20am flight from Teesside to Leeds-Bradford and did not reach Munich until nearly midnight.

And on the way back their luggage was lost at Amsterdam Airport. Karen, 34, who is a carer and has three children, said she was so nervous she did not really enjoy her television moment but meeting up with Stephen and his wife, Cornelia, after the show made it all worthwhile.

Karen said: "I have been searching for him for 18 years. It was strange to see him because he looks like me and has some of the same mannerisms.

"But what do you say to a brother you haven't seen for that long?"

She added: "We are going to keep in touch and carry on searching for our sister, Veronica, who was adopted as a baby."

Karen and Stephen's mother, Denise Page, gave birth to the children at St Luke's Hospital in Bradford.

After she became ill with cancer the pair went to live at a Roman Catholic Church home for children and were adopted to different parents when their mother died in 1975.

Stephen moved to Germany in 1983 in search of work. In 1999 he married Cornelia, a German woman who runs a campsite near Herne.

Anyone with information about Veronica is asked to visit Karen's website at www.ddaisychainn.co.uk.