CHRISTINA and David Pilkington have recently been reunited after 40 years apart. Now they are searching desperately for their two younger brothers, who they haven't seen for nearly half a century. Reporter ANDREW TAYLOR takes a look at a tragic family history. . .

CHRISTINA Pilkington's upbringing was rough.

Cruelly treated by her alcoholic parents she and her three younger brothers - David, James and John - spent much of their childhood begging on Blackburn's streets.

It was on one such day that Christina, then aged 12, and her brothers, who lived in Haslingden Road, were finally deserted by their mother and father.

They were left to watch a show at a cinema in Burnley and were told by their mother to walk to their grandparents' house in Colne when it finished.

A few weeks later the "cruelty man" - the welfare officer - found them hiding in their grandad's cellar and took them away.

Little did Christina know that this would be the day that set in motion a chain of events that would splinter her family.

Christina, whose married name is Anderson and now lives in Leigh, near Wigan, said: "I spent most of my childhood bringing up my three younger brothers as my mother and father were always in the pub. I recall we used to go to the pubs looking for them and then went begging for food. They would not allow me to go to school.

"My first experience in a children's home had been at the age of seven. My brother David and I were taken into the Cottage Homes in the Cherry Tree area of Blackburn for around 18 months.

"After that I recall my Auntie Margaret getting a house for my mother and we moved out of the children's home into our new home.

"During this time my other two brothers, James and John, were born but the final separation came when we were taken by our mother to the cinema and left on our own.

"My mother told us to go to our grandad Pilkington's house after the show, so we made our way there and stayed with them for a few weeks.

"I remember being in the cellar and hiding when the cruelty man found us. They wrapped my youngest brother John in a red blanket. We were then put into an ambulance and taken to the Moorefields children's home in Swinton, Manchester.

"Myself and David were asked to go inside the home and told that our other brothers would be in shortly, but sadly they never came.

"After being taken into care I was sent to boarding school and David was eventually taken to live with my Auntie Margaret. That's the last time I saw him - until last month."

Christina's turbulent life continued as she eventually set up home on her own and wondered where the rest of her family might be. She had moved away from East Lancashire and was living in Leigh.

She added: "I approached the welfare services in Leigh around 1957, when I was about 18. They managed to track down my two younger brothers for me and arranged a meeting.

"I remember travelling to Huyton in Liverpool where I met a lady who I understand was their foster mother. She had James and John with her that day.

"I was promised by this lady that she would get in touch with me later that year but I never heard from them again."

Christina, now 65, spent the next 40 years thinking she would never see any of her family again.

But five years ago, after a failed relationship, she met her husband Chris Anderson - an IT expert.

One night she broke down and told Chris about her past and he made a pledge to help her find her brothers.

Chris used his IT skills to search data to trace brother David to his home in Tameside and an emotional re-union was set up.

David, 63, who now lives in Ashton-Under-Lyne, said: "It has been overwhelming to see Christina again, I am so happy."

David says the abuse and neglect he suffered as a child convinced him that for many years "nobody up there" liked him.

He ran away from four of the ophanages and after his troubled teenage years he finally left Blackburn at the age of 19.

He went on to become a long distance lorry driver. He married and now has two adult children.

He said: "When our parents were supposed to be looking after us, we would stand on the market with the pram and hang around outside shops in Penny Street and King Street, begging for food or anything we could eat - left over chips and broken biscuits.

"I was kicked from pillar to post as a child. We were probably better off in the orphanges the way we were treated at home. I would have loved to have gone to school and learned to read and write."

David was so desperate to find out what happened to Christina, James and John that he even wrote to television shows like Surprise Surprise and Jim'll Fix It.

He spent hours at the Citizens' Advice Bureau, various police stations and local authority offices looking for the smallest clue.

But Christine found him first. Now they have been renunited David has spent the last three weekends with his sister, starting the huge and emotional process of piecing together their lives.

The pair, who also have an older brother Ernest, 68, who they are in touch with and who has stayed in Blackburn, have talked to the Evening Telegraph in the hope of finding the brothers Christina has seen briefly just once since being taken into care in 1951.

James and John will now be 57 and 53 respectively.

Christina's husband Chris, who is co-ordinating the search, said: "We really don't know what happened to them but we are determined to find them. All I want is for the five of them to be together again, even if it is just for one day.

"Christina has been back to Blackburn to meet some of other relatives. Her parents aside, Christina had a nice family."

Do you know James or John? Contact our newsdesk on 01254 678678.