Beach discovery for Portrush girl Sophie

Sophie Scott was with her dad Michael at West Strand beach looking for debris to throw for their dog to catch when she found a bottle which seemed to have something interesting inside.

"I thought I saw a wee plastic bag inside, then I saw there was a letter in it," said Sophie, who began P3 in Portrush Primary School on Tuesday morning.

It turned out the bottle had drifted 2,089 miles across the Atlantic from Newfoundland in Canada.

Inside was a letter written in January by Hayley Hoyles, who is also six-years-old.

It said: "Hi, my name is Hayley Hoyles, I live in Newfoundland, Canada. I have one brother. His name is Matthew. He is ten-years-old. I have a cat named Seamus and a dog called Sandy."

Sophie has since written back to Hayley, but the story took another twist when her father happened to meet BBC Radio Ulster's Alan Simpson in Portrush a day later.

The DJ interviewed the Scott family on his Monday afternoon show last week where they told him of their exciting discovery.

It turned out he had a further surprise in store for them when he got Hayley and her mother Judy on the phone!

Judy Hoyles told them: "Hayley's dad works at an oil field, and when he went out to sea two and a half years ago, he began throwing out messages for his children.

"Matthew was receiving replies from France, Spain and Ireland but Hayley wasn't getting any, so he said he'd just throw out messages for her.

"She has now received two replies, both from Ireland."

Sophie's mum Terry, said: "Sophie's been on a high all week about it, it's been great.

"I didn't think people did this sort of thing any more. Sophie sent a letter last Saturday but she has yet to get a reply."

In an age of instant communication, it seems that the old-fashioned message in a bottle is not entirely dead yet.

Although the first conversation between the two girls was somewhat stilted, not unsurprising given that it was on live radio, the strange discovery on Portrush beach could well be the start of a long-distance friendship.