A BUCKS youngster who threw a message in a bottle into the sea was thrilled when he received a reply from a German family – more than six months after it set off on its intrepid journey across The Channel.

Six-year-old Henry Cox and his sister Florence, five, visited Southwold in Sussex on holiday during the Easter break in April – and decided to commemorate their trip by writing a note and sending it out to sea in a jar.

Henry, who lives in Lane End and goes to Danesfield School in Marlow with his sister, penned a letter on a grey and rainy day and put in a jar with a £1 coin to cover postage if someone discovered it and decided to write back.

It read: “Dear friends, thank you for finding my jar. I put it in the sea at Southwold in England on 12.4.18.

“Please write to me using the money to buy a stamp. From Henry Cox.”

The youngster’s dad James warned him he may not get a response – but the family were thrilled when they finally received a response from a German family who had come across the message while holidaying in France.

The Maran family, from Duisburg in Germany, found the jar washed up on a beach in Calais on September 29 while they were on holiday – after the note made its way across The Channel.

Writing a letter back, the family said: “Dear Henry Cox. During our last vacations we found something which may belong to you.

“We are very happy that we find it. Greetings and best wishes to you, dear Henry. Family Maran.

“P.S. Found on a beach in Calais, France.”

James said: “It was Henry’s idea. I warned him there probably wouldn’t be a reply but a week or so ago we got this letter from the family in Germany. It was a real thrill for Henry and his sister.

“We’ve looked up Calais and Duisburg on the map and it’s been good for him and Florence to learn how far messages can go.”

Henry added: “Before I got the letter I thought it would be washed down into the ocean but actually it was found by a family and I am really excited and happy about that.”

The jar would have had to negotiate one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world to get to its final destination - with an estimated 500 to 600 ships passing along the Dover Strait - between Dover in Kent and Calais - every day.