Zoe Averianov, from Hebden Bridge, UK, who threw a message in a bottle into the North Sea 23 years ago, has received a reply after it was discovered in the Netherlands.

Zoe Averianov was 10 when she threw the note as she went on holiday on a ferry from Hull to Belgium on September 12, 1990.

Over Christmas the woman was given a letter sent from Europe which had been posted to her parents’ address.

Zoe Averianov threw a message in a bottle into the North Sea 23 years ago

Zoe Averianov said she was surprised at how far the message had travelled.

The envelope, addressed to Zoe Averianov’s maiden name, contained her original letter and a reply from a couple in the Netherlands.

Zoe Averianov’s letter had read: “Dear finder, my name is Zoe Lemon. Please would you write to me, I would like it a lot.

“I am 10 years old and I like ballet, playing the flute and the piano. I have a hamster called Sparkle and fish called Speckle.”

The reply read: “Dear Zoe, yesterday on one of my many walks with my wife along the dikes of Oosterschelde looking among the debris thrown by the sea of embankment I found a little plastic bottle containing your message.”