McCartney Grateful For Return of Photos

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY is ecstatic after a batch of private family photographs were returned to him, after they were found discarded on a London rubbish tip. The intimate pictures - including some of the former BEATLE's late wife LINDA MCCARTNEY - were discovered by British newspaper The Sun earlier this week (begs04DEC06). The photos show MCCartney in happier times, with a number dating back 30 years. One of the family albums contains snaps of MCCartney's estranged second wife HEATHER MILLS proudly showing off her bump while heavily pregnant with the couple's daughter BEATRICE, and posing in a Victorian bath wearing nothing but diamond earrings. Shocked at the finding, MCCartney says, "I'm very grateful to The Sun for getting these pictures back to me." The 64-year-old is currently embroiled in a bitter divorce battle with Mills, who has sensationally claimed he physically abused her during their four year marriage. The couple split up in May (06) and began divorce proceedings in July (06).