We’ve done nothing wrong.. if we come back we could lose our precious children

every day and they really enjoy it. Look at the pictures – do they look like they’re in danger?”

To support her case, Amelia released a photo taken last week of her posing with her smiling boys on a sunny beach.

But the happy family snap belies the waves being made back home.

In April, her parents John and Lita Clift were convicted of conspiracy to abduct a child after transferring £6,000 to Amelia while she was abroad.

A judge ruled this proved they helped her flee. Former PCSO John, 46, and ex-nurse Lita, 50, had insisted the money was a belated wedding gift to buy a car. Both got suspended jail sentences. And in September, High Court judge Sir Gavyn Arthur took the unusual step of giving permission for Charlie and Kaiton to be named in the hope the children could be found.

Former health care assistant Amelia said: “What did we have to go back for?

“We’d already met quite a few people and they helped, giving us free things like furniture, TVs and stuff.

“We only came with enough clothes for two weeks and we brought a small bag of toys for the kids. Our luggage was already 20kg under the allowance.”

She and Jason, understood to be in the Turkish-occupied north of the island, began learning the language and found jobs – Jason in security, Amelia in a bar. Amelia explained: “I’m learning Turkish and my husband is fluent. It’s quite hard to learn but he picked it up quickly.”

They began planning for the children’s long-term futures in their new home, and hope to send Charlie to school as soon as he turns six next year.

Amelia said the whole family has adapted very quickly, and the boys do not even miss their friends at home in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

She said: “They don’t know any different. Kaiton has spent more of his life in this country than in the UK.

“Charlie was mainly close to my sister’s children, that was it. I Skyped my sister a few times in the last year but that’s about it – he’s got new friends now.”

Amelia said she and Jason even keep a dossier of evidence to convince people they meet that they are innocent.

She said: “Most of our friends here are British. We’ve got all the evidence with us so if anyone asks, all we do is pull up the evidence and go, ‘Look this is proof ’.

“Once they see that side of the story they go, ‘Oh my gosh, I feel sorry for you going through this’.

“We’re not using fake names because we’ve done nothing wrong. I used to live in fear, but then I spoke to my solicitor.

“They say there’s nothing to worry about as we’ve had social services from this country come and see us.” The UK authorities would need a court order and agreement of the Northern Cyprus government to bring the family back.

Officials on the island have said they have visited the family and have no concerns over the children’s safety.

Amelia claims she has even invited Dominic to visit Charlie on the island.

But carpenter Dominic said: “Contact with her was hard enough when she lived 20 miles down the road. I have backing from the judge. He said it’s just false hope, it’s just her saying that.”

East Sussex County Council said it was unable to comment.