Missing Kent man Matthew Green found in Spain but parents unable to make contact

The parents of a missing man have told of their "mixed emotions" after discovering that their son is alive but they cannot contact him.

Matthew Green, 32, disappeared from his home in Kent in May 2010 after saying he was going to visit friends in London for the weekend.

His parents, Jim and Pauline, have been told that he has been found alive in Spain - but they cannot be put in direct contact with him because of data protection laws.

"I cannot put into words how we feel, ecstatic, elated, all our Christmases come at once are a few of the things that spring to mind," Mrs Green said.

She added: "It's very mixed emotions - obviously we're very happy but again we've got quite a few hurdles to get through."

An officer came to the couple's house in Sittingbourne on May 3 to give them the news that their son has been found.

He came to the attention of the Spanish authorities because he was "acting oddly" and has been taken into the care of social services for assessment.

Mrs Green said on Facebook: "He had no ID on him and when asked his name he said he didn't know and then gave two aliases and Matthew Green, at this point Interpol were involved and everything has snowballed from there.

"A fingerprint match proves that it is 99.9% surety that it is Matt."

She added: "We are no way nearer to seeing him, talking to him or anything else, due to his human rights and data protection.

"I have written him a letter which I have emailed to the Foreign Embassy/Consulate in Madrid but they will not tell me if Matt is in receipt of my letter."

Mrs Green told the Victoria Derbyshire show: "They can't tell me if it's been delivered to him because of data protection. They can't tell me where he is exactly because of data protection."

She added: "I'm assuming they know."

Mrs Green said she would have been on a plane the following morning, but said: "Where do I go? We've just got all these questions still and nobody to answer them."

Mr Green told the programme: "At one stage, they said that he would have to be assessed by a medical team for his mental heath.

"Now, we don't even know whether that's been done, and if they have done this and they deemed him okay, have they just let him go? We don't know."

Mrs Green said they will "get there in the end", adding: "It might take me a bit more time, but I've waited six years, so I'll carry on."