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Letter Alaina wrote aged 12 is found washed up 2000 miles away on far-flung Norwegian island

- BY ALAN BERESFORD

A SCOT who sent a message in a bottle as a girl has received a reply from 2000 miles away - more than 30 years later.

Alaina Beresford was just 12 when she committed her message to the sea in an empty bottle of Moray Cup fizzy pop.

Now she's had the surprise of her life after getting a postcard explaining her decadesold message had been found.

Pia Brodtmann, 27, from Germany, found the message in a bottle, washed up on a remote Norwegian isle.

Alaina, of Portknockie, Banffshire, said: "The message from Pia said she'd found my message in a bottle on a tiny island called Lisshell ya near Vega in Norway.

"She's there working as a volunteer, beach cleaning with a charity called In the Same Boat for four months.

"The postcard was wonderful, a montage of photos showing my message in a bottle, the boat she's on, the Nemo, and the area she's working in.

"I was just so shocked that somebody had found the message I sent all those years ago.

"It was amazing that my note was still perfectly legible - even the old Moray Cup bottle was in good shape!

"We were doing a project on water with our P7 teacher Ann Bruce and part of that was doing a message in a bottle. Her husband was a fisherman and he threw the bottle into the sea when he was out with the boat."