Ben Ford and Jack Shephard, from Warsash, Hampshire, became trapped on remote land by the incoming tide on Sunday night, sparking a major search.

Jack Shephard explains how he and Ben Ford spent their night

After being reunited with his family, Jack Shephard spoke to the BBC. "It was getting darker and darker, so I said if we can't see where we are going, we should get ready to settle down."

It got very cold said the young boy, "So we were blowing into our jumpers to keep warm. We stretched Ben's jumper and both tried to get to sleep in it. We were getting warm, but out feet were cold and tingling."

Frustration of search aircraft

Over 50 volunteers searched for the missing boys

Jack Shephard said they had heard the searching airplanes and helicopters. It was frustrating that when they heard one directly overhead they were unable to attract its attention, he explained.

"When they realised that they could not get off the piece of land, they settled in for the night," said Inspector Derek Stubbington, of Hampshire Police. "At first light, they made their way safely to the first address they found. They were very sensible in deciding to stay put."

No injuries

Insp. Derek Stubbington, Hampshire Police: "The boys have been reunited with their families"

The occupier of the house, in Cowes Lane, Warsash, then alerted the police. Inspector Stubbington believed that one of the boys would be seeing a doctor later in the day but that they had not sustained any injuries.

He said the boys' relatives, the police and the members of the public who had helped search for the boys were all very relieved.

Helen Knight, head teacher at the St George Roman Catholic School in Southampton, which the boys attend, said the school was "delighted" they had been found safe.

"They are nice lads and for the main part quite sensible. They know a little bit about safety and kept themselves warm and protected from hypothermia," she said.

More than 50 volunteers had spent the night scouring the wooded coastal area in Hampshire where the boys were last seen.

Drowning fears

There had been fears that the boys had fallen into difficult terrain where the river Hamble meets the Solent.

The boys left Ben's home in the Warsash Road area at about 1545 on Sunday, leaving a note for his parents telling them they were visiting a friend in a nearby street.

Inspector Carter said had they failed to turn up at the house and a friend's mother spotted them a short while later in a nearby wooded area.