A MAN whose disappearance sparked international searches has told his family he is safe and well - after joining the French Foreign Legion.

Charles Luck, of York, was last seen by relatives on June 12, when the 20-year-old was leaving the city's train station to travel to London, apparently on his way to start a new gamekeeping job in France.

His family contacted North Yorkshire Police when they did not hear from him for more than two months, and the force contacted French authorities, who carried out local enquiries.

This week, Charles' sister India said he had contacted the family in the last few days to let them know he was safe and well and still currently in France.

She said: "He phoned us and said and said 'I've managed to get hold of my phone, and this is what happened'.

"The gamekeeping job was a cover story. We literally found out less than a week ago he'd joined the Legion and had his phone and passport taken off him, so he had no way to contact anyone. He trained for three months with them and passed, becoming a Legionnaire which apparently only 20 per cent of people pass.

"I don't even understand what it is but apparently it's really hard to pass the training and really brutal, but he managed it which is amazing. We're really proud of him for that.

"But he said he wanted to get out. It was difficult, really difficult."

India also posted on social media to let friends and family know that Charles had been found safe, and was yesterday discharged from the Legion and hopes to return to the UK "within the next ten days".

In her post, she said: "Charles feels terrible for everyone who that has been worried.

"Over the last three months, he has continued training in the South of France, but due to a number of complications he then requested that he be discharged."

Speaking to The Press, India said Charles, who lives off Bootham, York, wanted to offer his apologies to everyone who was worried about him, and said finding out he was safe and well was "a massive weight off".

She said: "We had no idea where he was, my parents were going crazy."

India said she wanted to thank everyone who had helped in the search for Charles, on behalf of the family, and they were now waiting to hear exactly when he would return to the UK.

She said: "People have been amazing, so we really want to thank everyone who shared posts, and commented and all the positive stuff. There was a lot of love and support around, which was nice as well."

The Press contacted the French Foreign Legion for comment but had not received one at time of publication.