A BOLTON woman enjoyed a reunion with her five sisters 5,000 miles away in Jamaica - the first time they had all been together in 54 years.

Yola Riggs, aged 73, flew out with two sisters living in Britain to meet up with three sisters living on the island.

Mrs Riggs, who was born in Jamaica and moved to Bolton when she was in her mid 30s, has seen her sisters separately over the years, but it was the first time they had all been together since 1950.

She flew to Jamaica from Manchester with sisters Vilma Marshall, aged 71, who lives in Bangor, North Wales, and Greta Bell, aged 67, who lives in Blackpool.

Her other sisters - Barbara Da Costa, aged 78, Norma Haddad, aged 74, and Helena Haddad, aged 58 - live near Mountain View Gardens in Jamaica.

Mrs Riggs and her sisters were reunited in the capital, Kingston, and held a party to mark their reunion.

The mother-of-one, who lives in Reedham Close, Heaton, spent nearly three weeks on the island, enjoying the sun and scenery and reminiscing with her sisters.

She said: "It was absolutely wonderful and there were lots of hugs and tears. I know it will be a long time before we are all together again, but we all had a great time.

"We wish we could spend more time together, but we are all busy with our families doing different things."

Mrs Riggs' family first came to England when her father, a soldier, emigrated from Jamaica.

Mrs Riggs met her late husband, Joseph, also a soldier, in St Helens. The grandmother-of-two worked as deliveries office clerk for the former British Railways before her retirement several years ago.