Paul and Rachel Chandler arrived back in the UK yesterday after being held captive by Somali pirates for more than a year.

Their return brings to an end a 388-day ordeal that began in October 2009, when their yacht was seized by armed pirates as it sailed from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.

The couple, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, landed at Heathrow Airport at 6.44 p.m. yesterday, aboard Virgin Atlantic flight VS672 from Nairobi.

Mr and Mrs Chandler, aged 60 and 57 respectively, left the plane separately from other passengers and were met by a car on the tarmac.

Looking tired and pale, the pair walked quickly from the flight to the waiting vehicle and drove off.

They were released on Sunday and handed over to local officials in the Somali town of Adado after a ransom of up to a million dollars was reportedly paid to their kidnappers.

Mr and Mrs Chandler were then flown to the capital Mogadishu and on to Nairobi, Kenya.

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