Long lost cousins from Oxford have met for the first time in nearly 70 years - thanks to an article in the Oxford Mail.

First cousins and childhood friends Patrick and Arthur Goodwin, both 79, last saw one another in the months before the Second World War.

In the 1930s they lived together in a children's home in Cowley but with war imminent and the threat of German bombers targeting factories in the city's industrial heartland, the home was disbanded.

Patrick, older by three months, moved to Marston, while his younger cousin upped sticks to the north of the city.

Arthur, who now lives in Church Lane, Harwell, said: "The last time we met was when we were eight or nine - we lost contact when war broke out."

After the war both cousins were conscripted into the armed forces for two years - Patrick joined the Army, Arthur the RAF.

Last month the Oxford Mail published an article about the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, featuring Arthur, who in June 1948 was employed as a flight mechanic at RAF Abingdon.

He serviced aircraft flying food and fuel to the German capital after the Russians cut off road and rail links to the city.

Cousin Patrick, who lives in Evans Lane, Kidlington, read the article.

He said: "My mind went back years and years. I thought it could only be him with a name like that.

"It's amazing how you are able to recapture the years. I remember things so well."

After tracking down the ex-RAF mechanic and inviting him to lunch, the cousins shook hands and swapped stories from the past 70 years.

Retired bachelors and non-drinkers, the old friends also discovered they were both colour blind.

Patrick spent much of his working life as a caretaker at Oxford University's Merton College - looking after students including Wantage and Didcot MP Ed Vaizey and current BBC Director General Mark Thompson.

Meanwhile, Arthur, following a brief spell as a mechanic, became a psychiatric nurse, first training at Littlemore Hospital and then moving to work in London and Surrey.

He said: "When I retired I came back to Oxfordshire. My sister and her family live in Didcot, but it's nice to have a new friend in Kidlington."

Patrick added: "The years roll back so quickly. It's easy to lose touch with family. We are going to see each other as much as we can - we have got a lot in common."

Sadly, the cousins do not have any photographs from the 1930s, but they remember a thing or two.

Patrick said: "We used to have our photos taken together and sweets given to us by people who came to visit the children's home."