A SOLDIER missing for two months has been found — in the French Foreign Legion.

Former soldier Charles Luck, 20, told his family he was starting work as a gamekeeper in the South of France in June.

6 Charles Luck, centre, was thought to be missing but had actually signed up to join the French Foreign Legion

But he volunteered for the Legion in Paris instead and was sent for training. However he unwittingly signed up for five years and had his phone and passport confiscated. When he failed to return home in August as planned his family raised the alarm — sparking a massive police manhunt.

They feared the worst when told his bank cards had not been used since he left. But they finally got a call last week from Charles saying he was OK.

He had managed to buy a phone when let out of barracks for the first time near the southern town of Castelnaudary.

Last night his dad Michael, 76, of York, said he told them: “I’ve screwed up big time and should never have come here.”

6 Charles, pictured with his sister India, had previously served as an infantryman in the Army Reserves

6 Charles had told his family he was going to France to be a gamekeeper

6 His family and friends raised the alarm when Charles failed to return to the UK as planned

Michael added: “He went to the HQ of the French Foreign Legion and unwittingly signed a piece of paper to stay for five years.

“He completed his training thinking he could then just leave but they made it very difficult. They wouldn’t give him his phone back or passport. They had taken everything off him, even the clothes he stood up in.

“He finally phoned me last Wednesday. He was in an absolute panic not knowing if he was going to get out or not.”

Michael advised him to speak to his captain and was able to agree his discharge. He added: “He is now en route to Marseille and we are expecting him back this weekend.

6 The French Foreign Legion accept soldiers from across the world Credit: Alamy

6 Only one in eight applicants is believed to pass the physical and psychological tests necessary to join the Legion Credit: Alamy

“It’s such a relief. We all thought he was going to come back in a coffin.”

Charles, previously an infantryman in the Army Reserve at York, has since posted photos online of his time in the Legion.

His sister India, 18, said: “Charles feels terrible and says he’s ‘sorry for being such an idiot’.”

GO TO FORGET THE Legion was set up in 1831, initially accepting deserters, criminals or misfits desperate to escape their pasts. Today it boasts an army of 8,000 soldiers from 140 ­different countries. Applicants are given an alias before taking part in gruelling physical and psychological tests. Only one in eight is believed to be successful. Soldiers from the Legion took part in both world wars and more recently fought in Afghanistan.