Twin sisters were reunited yesterday after being separated at birth 78 years ago in Aldershot.

It is the longest that a set of twins have been apart before seeing each other again, according to the Guinness World Records, and for Ann Hunt and Elizabeth Hamel it was an emotional moment.

“It’s so wonderful, I’m not on my own any more. I’ve got no words to say. I’m so happy – I have Elizabeth,” said Ann.

Ann, who was given up for adoption and grew up in Aldershot, England where she was born, did not know she had a sister, while Elizabeth, who was kept by her mother and ended up in Portland, Oregon in the United States, found out at the age of 15.

“I was over the moon, I couldn’t speak,” Hunt told the BBC when discussing their first phone call a year ago.

“I let Elizabeth speak mostly, I had to pinch myself because I realised, I’ve got a sibling, a sister.”

Twins reunited 78 years after being separated at birth