Sydney  - A British teenager given up for dead after getting lost in dense forest in Australia 12 days ago was found alive Wednesday just 15 kilometres from where he went missing.

Helicopters, tracker dogs and a search party of 60 people had been scouring the Blue Mountains west of Sydney for 19-year-old Jamie Neale.

He disappeared July 3 after leaving his Katoomba youth hostel to go on a popular and well-signposted tourist walk.

Bushwalkers spotted Neale in rugged terrain and alerted the search party.

He was airlifted to hospital where he is recovering from exposure after surviving the sub-zero temperatures of one of mainland Australia's coldest places.

His father and uncle had flown out from London to join the search. On Monday they were told that the chances of finding him alive were very low. (dpa)