A DAD left stranded in South Africa has met his three-month-old baby for the first time after being reunited with his Rossendale family.

Tracey Van Den Berg, who is from South Africa and has dual nationality, gave birth to her daughter Kaiann in early August in Burnley while working as a secretary at a dating agency in Rawtenstall.

Her husband Mark and their three-year-old daughter Shylah were unable to move from South Africa to join Tracey in Bacup under tight visa rules.

Mrs Van Den Berg, 31, was born in South Africa and her mother is from Belfast.

The regulations brought in by the Home Office in July stopped Tracey’s family joining her in the UK as she did not earn more than £22,400 a year.

But the family reunited in Estepona, Spain, on October 25, which was the first time Mark, 28, and Shylah had met baby Kaiann. Mrs Van Den Berg said: “Me and my family feel so at home, maybe because we are all together, but it could also be that the weather is so wonderful and the lifestyle is what we are used to. We are so happy and so grateful to all the people that have supported us along the way. Finally we are all back together and it is great.

“We have had a few hiccups with our oldest daughter, from whom I was separated from for 20 weeks. She is scared I am going to disappear again, not being too secure when I told her we were going to be together forever and I wasn’t going anywhere.

“But it hasn’t been very long, so we keep reassuring her that she will no longer have to worry.

“However she is so fantastic with her little sister. She is absolutely so in love with her baby sister and is such a big help.”

The family are living by the port in Estepona and Mrs Van Den Berg is working as a telemarketer.

Mark, a lifeguard, is currently looking for work.

She said: “We are very happy here and have decided to stay for a year and see how it goes and maybe return to the UK at a later stage.”