A man’s claim that he is alive has been rejected by a Romanian court after he was officially registered as deceased.

Constantin Reliu, 63, moved to Turkey for work in 1992 and did not have any contact with his family for almost two decades.

After his wife heard nothing from him since 1999, she presumed he had died and got a death certificate drawn up in 2016.

Mr Reliu was then arrested in Turkey as his permission to stay in the country had expired and he was subsequently deported.

Upon arriving back in Romania, he discovered he had been declared dead and was therefore unable to work.

Mr Reliu took the issue to court but lost his case because his appeal was deemed to have been made too late.

“I am officially dead, although I’m alive, I have no income and because I am listed dead, I can’t do anything,” he said.

Mr Reliu has said he wishes to return to Turkey where he owns a business but first needs to get his identity back and the death certificate annulled in order to leave the country.

Online Editors