THEY are the smiles that say: 'Thank God it's over'.

Ecstatic Chris Coe is reunited with his family as his 13-day hostage ordeal finally comes to an end.

Leading Seaman Coe, 31, posed with overjoyed parents Steve and Christine, sister Gemma and his nephews (front page picture) after arriving back in the UK yesterday.

The shot was captured as the former Rawthorpe High School student, of Dalton, and his 14 Royal Navy colleagues arrived at Royal Marines Base Chivenor, north Devon.

Earlier they had flown business class from Tehran to Heathrow Airport following their surprise release from captivity in Iran on Wednesday.

Their plane touched down in London at lunchtime.

From there they were immediately whisked by Sea King helicopter to the Royal Marines base, near Barnstaple.

The group filed out onto the grass in front of the officer's mess in brilliant sunshine to be greeted by naval officials.

Family and friends pressed their faces up against windows before they were allowed to greet their loved ones.

Hugs were then exchanged before they enjoyed a long lunch.

The Coe family is expected to return to Dalton shortly.

But last night Chris and the other sailors and marines from HMS Cornwall were due to undergo medical checks and receive a full debriefing.

British intelligence services were believed to be keen to get an insight into how the Iranians operate and what they wanted to know.

The 14 men and one woman were seized by Revolutionary Guards in waters off Iraq on March 23.

Iran claimed the ship had strayed into its waters - a claim denied by the UK.

Negotiations over the group's release seemed to be making slow progress until Wednesday afternoon.

Then, in a shock end to a press conference, Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad annonuced the group could go free as a "gift" to the British people.

Prime Minster Tony Blair has denied a deal was done.