A GRANDFATHER who spent much of his early life in Worcestershire after being abandoned as a baby has launched a global search to find his real mother.

Robert Weston was just three weeks old when he was found in a toilet cubicle in the Odeon Cinema in Birmingham on March 26, 1956.

The tot, who was dressed in expensive Cherubim clothing, was found with his head resting on a cushion.

Days after he was found, a local newspaper carried eyewitness reports of a well-dressed, attractive woman loitering suspiciously near the cinema foyer, but she was never traced.

He was handed over to Dr Bruce Park at Birmingham Children’s Hospital by police who named him Robert Bruce.

Robert lived at a children’s home in Droitwich, until he was seven when he was adopted by George and Irene Weston, who ran pubs in Worcestershire.

He joined the Royal Navy as a 16-year-old before leaving in 1978 and moving to Plymouth where he taught English at the city’s university until he retired last year.

He had five children with Angela, his first wife. The children were Richard, now 33, Emma, 32, Sonny, 28, 22-year-old Samantha, and Jamie, 19.

He divorced Angela after 18 years together and then married Marie and went on to have a daughter Emily, now 17.

Robert’s adoptive mother Irene died when he was 20 and George passed away from Alzheimer’s last June, and Robert has now decided to seek out his biological mother.

The grandfather-of-five has discovered during his search that documents that could have helped with the mystery were destroyed 20 years ago.

But he believes he has uncovered a possible description of his mother after a young woman with auburn hair and a red coat was seen at the cinema clutching a baby before he was abandoned.

He has approached a DNA data bank in London who have detected possible links with America and Ireland.

Robert’s daughter Emma Broome, 32, has also created a Facebook page dedicated to the search.

Robert said: “You can make up all sorts of conspiracy theories and I have been through them all over the years.

“The detail of the expensive clothes I was wrapped in makes it more intriguing too.

“I’ve considered the possibility it might not have been my mum who actually put me there, but then the woman that was described was 28 and had red hair, and my daughter Samantha has red hair. “I could have been born out of wedlock, or to a very young mum.

“I could have been an illegitimate baby in a posh family, and in those days that would have been very embarrassing so they may have given me up because of that.

“I bear my mother no ill-will whatsoever. Years ago, my first question to her would have been, ‘why?’ but now it would be, ‘how are you?’“

“I was three weeks of age. Abandoned babies are not kept for that long – that does not fit the norm.

“She took a real risk by leaving me there. She tucked me up in the warm. All this points to someone who cares. I think she had to have reasons.

“It’s easy to go down the conspiracy theory route, but the impression I get from press reports at the time is of someone from a very good family.

“When I was adopted I was torn.

“I found it difficult to connect emotionally and my adoptive mum wanted to cover me with love and I could not cope with that. I blamed her for the confusion I was feeling.

“Some of my experiences at the children’s home were not very pleasant and I used to think they would not have happened if I’d not been left at the cinema.

“Returning to the place I was left gave me a sense of shock, seeing the corner where my head had rested, knowing I was standing where my mother stood. It was a very profound feeling.

“The clothes I was wearing have also gone and I don’t think that would happen today.

“It seems to have gone worldwide, which is amazing. So many people have sent messages of support.

“Really, I’m doing this to pass on some connection to my family that goes beyond myself. At the moment I have no genetic links with anyone. That is why it’s so important.”

Daughter Emma, a beauty therapist from Plympton, said: “I would like to meet my biological grandmother as well if she was found.

“We’re all very artistic and that’s not from my mum’s side, so we could make more sense of that if we met our grandmother.

“The Facebook profile we set up a couple of weeks ago already has more than 450 followers and has been shared about 6,000 times.

“I’ve been really surprised by the amount of support it received.”

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