A British aid worker freed by gunmen in Somalia has been filmed in good health, smiling and laughting.

Zimbabwe-born Frans Barnard, who was working for Save the Children, described his freedom as "bloody marvellous" after spending five days and six nights in the hands of militants in the east African country.

Save the Children spokeswoman Anna Ford said the charity had spoken to him twice since his release.

She said: "We spoke to him and he said 'It is bloody marvellous' - he confirmed that he was safe and well and was confident in the people who were looking after him.

"We can confirm that he has been released by his kidnappers and he is now in the hands of clan elders in Somalia. It was those clan elders who organised his release and he is currently on his way to a place of safety.

"We are just hugely, hugely grateful to the clan elders for everything that they have done. It speaks volumes about Somalian society that they were able to organise and resolve this issue despite all the difficulties. We would like to thank everybody who has helped us."

She added that the clan elders had seen it as a "point of honour" to work for Mr Barnard's release.

"They invited us into their community to do the work that we are doing and they saw Frans as their guest and they did everything possible to get him to safety.

"It was a point of honour for them to do that. He is now being protected by the local administration and clan elders."

Mr Barnard was taken from a guesthouse compound in Adado, a small town close to the border with Ethiopia, on Thursday night.