THE PROUD parents of captured marine captain Chris Air were celebrating news that their son was to be released at their Timperly home today, just 24 hours after tying yellow ribbons round a tree in their front garden.

 Chris, 25, was among the 15 British naval personnel seized by Iran 13 days ago and freed today by the country’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a “gift” to Britain to mark both the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed and Easter.

 His father, Robin, 51, said today: “I am very grateful to the president. I am very happy to receive his gift of my son.”

 Mr Air, who works in food packaging, and his midwife wife Sally, also 51, had been avoiding the president’s words because they found them too upsetting. They were on their way out of the house when the phone call came to tell them of the release.

They had missed him theatrically pinning medals on the coastguards who he said had captured the HMS Cornwall personnel on March 23 after they had conducted a routine inspection of an Indian merchantman in the Shatt al-Arab waterway in what Britain insisted were Iraqi waters.

Anxious

 The apparent diplomatic resolution of the crisis came after the UK and Iran began direct talks to defuse the anxious stand-off.

 As the British government made arrangements for their return, Chris Air’s thrilled parents were unsure where they would meet up with their son again. They had been due to fly to Portsmouth tomorrow to meet up with the families of the other detainees.

 The trip had been arranged purely to offer them comfort but it might now be turned into the opportunity of a joyful reunion.

 Mr Air revealed that he had bought 50 feet of yellow ribbon yesterday and wound it round a copper beech tree in his front garden.

 The couple praised the British handling of the crisis and Mrs Air said: “We were totally happy with the way they did it. It has been very sensitively handled.”

 And they said that, far from upsetting them, their son’s “confession” on Iranian TV brought them comfort because it showed them he was well and “still in control”.

To read a full interview with Chris Air’s parents and more pictures see the Manchester Evening News on Thursday and log back onto the website later in the day.

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