A FAN tape made by two Beatles-mad schoolgirls has finally reached its destination...after half a century.

It was 50 years ago today Barbara Bezant and Lyn Jeffries, who now lives in Leigh, got together to record a message for the Fab Four.

They stuck it in the post but didn’t hear anything back, until now.

It triggered a bizarre chain of events that ended with a personal message from Sir Paul McCartney and the pals being reunited on prime-time TV.

Barbara, 67, of Bay Road, Dovercourt, said: “We were school friends in south London in the early Sixties. It was 1963 and we were big Beatles fans, so we made a reel-to-reel tape in our bedrooms with silly sound effects and funny voices and posted it to them.”

Astonishingly, the long forgotten tape resurfaced at a car boot sale in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

It had its original cover and was still addressed to the Beatles.

The tape was sent to the BBC’s One Show, which tracked down Barbara and Lyn, who had lost touch decades ago.

They were invited to the Beatles Museum in Liverpool for an emotional reunion in front of the cameras. Barbara said: “In walked my old friend from 50 years ago. She lives in Leigh, so we’re both Essex girls now.”

There was another surprise when they were handed a golden envelope with a message from Macca, who is on tour in the US.

He wrote: “Hi Lyn and Barbara, thanks for your lovely tape. It finally got through – better late than never. Great to hear that you found each other again after all these years. Keep enjoying the music. Love Paul.”

- The One Show featuring Barbara and Lyn will be screened on BBC1 on Wednesday, September 25 at 7pm.