A British teenager who had been missing for six years has revealed why he hatched a plan to flee his mother in France and return to his former life in the UK.

Alex Batty, now aged 17, returned to England after being taken out of the country and disappearing in 2017.

The boy disappeared at the age of 11 during a holiday with his mother Melanie and grandfather David in Malaga, Spain, in 2017.

In an interview with Britain’s The Sun newspaper, Alex said since then the trio had been wandering across Europe, constantly moving home and working in exchange for food and rent.

He did not go to school, made only one friend his own age and had dreams about becoming a computer software engineer which was why he decided to run away.

At the time they were living in a rented home in the French Pyrenees.

Alex told The Sun his mum was “a great person and I love her but she’s just not a great mum.”

He trekked for 35 kilometres over two days last week before a delivery driver spotted him and allowed Alex to send a message on his phone to his grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana, 68.

They were reunited at her UK home last week.

Alex shared his story with The Sun: “I first started thinking about leaving when I was 14 or 15.

“I realised it wasn’t a great way to live for my future. The cloud had lifted because I started weighing everything up again — the pros and cons of England.

“I wouldn’t know what was going to happen in my future if I were to stay with my mum, but from the past few years I could get a picture of what life would have been like.

“Moving around. No friends, no social life. Working, working, work and not studying. That’s the life I imagined I would be leading if I were to stay with my mum.

“It would always be the same whether it was France or Spain.

“In the mountains, in the middle of nowhere. No people my age.

“So when I was about 16 I spoke to grandad about going back to England.

“My mum was against the idea. She was very anti-government, anti-vax. She was worried that if I were to go back to a country and get my ID I would be put into care. Her catchphrase was becoming a ‘slave to the system’.

“She wasn’t really open to any other opinions whereas grandad is more of a listener.

“He was always like, ‘I want you to do what’s best for you’.

“He kept on saying every time, the reason I came with you, is so that I could make sure that you were happy and healthy with a roof over your head.”

On Monday December 11, around midnight and with his mum in bed, Alex left the farmhouse with four T-shirts, three pairs of trousers, socks, pants, a skateboard, a torch, 100 euros and a Swiss Army Knife.

Alex first walked south towards the town of Quillan.

“I slept outside on the ground. It was freezing. If I needed the toilet I used leaves and grass.

“My plan was to get to Toulouse and get as far away as possible.

“But I was so knackered when the delivery driver picked me up I just blurted out a story.

“I thought, ‘Oh Zack, what have you done’. Zack was the name I used when someone asked me.

“I wasn’t even hitchhiking when he picked me up. I was walking across a little bridge. He said he stopped because he saw I had a skateboard. It was pouring with rain and pitch black as it was 3am.

“I told him my story and I don’t think he actually believed me so he just carried on with his work.

“He was delivering parcels so I helped him because it’s the least I could do. He let me use his phone to contact my grandma.

“After that he calls the police and a squad car nearby takes me to the nearest police station.

“I’m in f***ing bits on the floor because I’m thinking ‘S**t I shouldn’t have said anything’. They fingerprinted me about five different times and were sending photos to my grandma.”

When he was eventually returned to his grandmother’s home, Alex said he started shaking and gave her a “massive hug”.

“The house is different now but still feels the same. The biggest difference is when I left I was a boy but now I’m 6ft so I’m too big for the bed. It feels great to be back. I have got a lot of help from social services and the police and want to go to college.

“I understand a lot of French so I’m not going to let that go. I’m going to keep on studying.

“I want to do computer science or cyber security or blockchain development so I’m going to be busy studying and catching up.”

France’s BFM TV has reported a search operation was underway to find Alex’s mother.

-with AAP