A POOLE man has been reunited with his sisters after being put up for adoption when he was just seven months old.

Dave Ashford, 54, was reunited with his sisters Nicki, Becky and Katherine thanks to ITV's Long Lost Family.

He was put up for adoption in 1966, with his adoption order dated as October 21 1966.

His sisters were all raised by their single mum Janet who fell pregnant with her first child, Nicki, aged 15.

Nicki Goscomb, now 55, lives in Stroud close to her younger sisters, Katherine Saunders, who has severe learning difficulties, and Becky Lazell.

When Nicki was a teenager, she discovered a birth certificate for a Nicholas James born 18 months after her.

The family later discovered that this was Dave, who was adopted by the Ashford family.

Janet told Nicki how she was forced to give away Nicki’s brother, who she’d named Nicholas James.

Her mother, Nicki’s grandmother, had given her an ultimatum - give up Nicholas or she’d ring social services and get both children taken into care.

Nicki said: "He was sacrificed so that I could stay. It makes me feel guilty and sad because I was kept with mum and he was given away.

"I just want to say sorry that he wasn’t part of our life when he should have been."

Janet died fourteen years ago but never forgot about her son.

During the programme, Becky said: "My mum never wanted to give him up. That was her dream, that she would one day meet him. So we need to find him."

Dave had looked into his adoption about sixteen years ago but didn’t pursue it because he didn’t want to upset his adoptive parents.

However, he is thrilled that he has met his three sisters.

The siblings met in a hotel in Cheltenham, the town where Dave last saw his birth mother.

On meeting his siblings, Dave said: "It was overwhelming - like a firework display going off inside, but amazing."

Becky added: "I think mum would have been absolutely thrilled, it would have meant the world to her."

This Long Lost Family episode was aired on Monday, February 8.