A Kent family have described the "magical" moment they discovered their long-long relatives who live 10,045 miles away...all thanks to a £30 DNA kit.

Jason Fisher, from Dover, had no idea his aunt Julie Mamo and cousin Louise Marland - who live in Australia - even existed until he received the results of the heritage test.

After connecting on social media, the united kin are now planning their first meet in person - and are all blown away by their uncanny likeness.

On finding members of her biological family, Julie Mamo says she feels "like my butterflies have got butterflies".

But their story starts 66-years ago, when 17-year-old Lillian Holmes - Jason's nan - gave birth to a baby girl at Buckland Hospital in Dover.

The baby, born out of wedlock, was given up for adoption, and later, at around 12-years-of-age moved with her family Down Under.

Apart form Lillian's parents, no one knew the secret of baby Julie.

Lillian went on to have four more children, including another girl, her eldest, also called Julie.

It was only when her eldest, Julie Ansell, was a teenager that Lillian told her about her first baby.

After finding out the secret, Julie didn't think anything of it and never told any other family members - that was, until recently.

Lillian died in 2019, but grandson Jason and daughter Julie have tracked down her first born, Julie Mamo, with the help of the DNA kit and social media.

Jason had carried out the MyHeritage DNA test last year, and only a few weeks after sending off the swab, received his results.

"It said I had some close DNA matches," he explains. "But there were two I didn't know of; Julie Hannant (Julie Mamo's maiden name) and Louise Marland.

"On the results, it gave the estimated relationship and it said possibly a great aunt or first cousin.

"But I couldn't establish a link; I thought it may have been one of my nan Lillian's sisters."

It was only when Jason's aunt, Julie Ansell, from St Margaret's Bay, disclosed Lillian's secret that the family worked out who the relatives were.

Julie Ansell said: "Jason told me his DNA test had come back and there was a lady named Julie on there.

"I told him I had never heard of her.

"But then I remembered when I was about 12 or 14, my mum told me that she'd had a child adopted when she was 17.

"It was a baby girl and she named her Julie.

"I didn't really think much more of it when she told me."

Looking on Facebook - and by pure luck - Jason came across a post by Louise Marland - a name which had also come up on his DNA results.

He adds: "She posted on an Aylesham Facebook page that her mother was trying to track down her family.

"She was born at Buckland Hospital and days later was given up for adoption as she was born out of wedlock, which was frowned upon back then.

"I recognised the name Marland as I had seen it on my DNA results so I sent her a message.

"We soon worked out Louise's mum is my nan's first child, who was adopted 66 years ago."

Julie Mamo, who lives in Adelade, is Jason's aunt and Julie Ansell's sister, while Louise is Jason's cousin and Julie Ansell's niece.

"You didn't need anything else to say that she is my nan's daughter," Jason says. "Everything about her was my nan - the looks, the way she spoke, the way she was in general.

"We speak daily now and she is coming to the UK in May.

"It is such a strange story for a £30 DNA test and what it has uncovered.

"I've never been an auntie and now I'm an auntie. It's amazing, unreal and magic..."

"It's a magical story - I sent a swab to a lab in Texas and they came back and told me I have an aunt."

Julie Ansell adds: "She is my mother's image and we look like twins."

Speaking from her home in Australia, Julie Mamo said she cannot believe she has found her biological family all thanks to a DNA test her daughter Louise bought her.

"It is still very surreal," Julie Mamo says.

"It's like my butterflies have got butterflies. I've got a sister and I've never had a sister. It is wonderful.

"I've never been an auntie and now I'm an auntie. It's amazing, unreal and magic.

"I found out when I was 12 I was adopted and my adopted mother only knew that my birth mum was too young to have me."

Louise says the discovery has changed her mother's life, explaining: "She's always wanted to find her biological family.

"Once we started talking with Jason, we realised we were family.

"It's just a shame we were a few years late to meet my nan who died in 2019.

"It has changed my mum's life and it is unbelievable what it has done for her.

"I can see my mum belongs in the UK, she has found her place and her identity.

"It wouldn't have happened if we hadn't connected on social media."