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A MESSAGE left in a bottle released in Widnes months ago has washed up on the banks of the River Mersey in Runcorn.

Brian Allen, of Runcorn, found the bottle on Wigg Island, close to the Old Quay Swing Bridge.

The bottle had been thrown into the Mersey in August at a Halton Borough Council Children’s Centre fun day at Spike Island, where youngsters either wrote messages or drew pictures inside with the theme being boats and bridges.

Brian has now released the bottle back into the Mersey, after taking some pictures for the organisers.

He said: “Imagine my surprise at finding a message in a bottle.

“If it hadn’t been for the pumice stone and shells in it I would have walked on by but it caught my attention and made me ask why they were there.

“So I emptied the bottle out and it was then that I found the letter wedged inside, I was quite excited and couldn’t wait to read it.

“The little messages and drawings are superb and I guess you invoked a lot of imagination on that day so instead of me telling you where I found it take a look at the picture that I took of myself holding the bottle.

“I put it back in the Mersey, with an extra letter inside, perhaps it will get to Australia this time. Who knows?

“The Mersey tide is ferocious coming in but a pussycat going out and the bottle may take a while to get out to sea.”

To guess where the bottle may turn up next, visit http://www.tides4fishing.com/uk/england/widnes for a graphic display of Mersey’s tides.