AFTER being abandoned by his parents in a cinema as a baby, a 61-year-old man has finally found a sense of peace by discovering the identity of his biological mother.

Robert Weston, who grew up in Worcester, was famously abandoned in Birmingham's Odeon New Street cinema in 1956.

Mr Weston, a retired lecturer, discovered the identity of his mother – who had passed away – in July, describing the revelation as 'life-changing'.

He said the information has helped cure the 'deep pain' he has always felt from not knowing his parents.

"It's a big deep yearning you can't get away or run away from. And that bit has gone, that's at peace now," he said.

"I have got all this family now. I never thought that was possible when I was growing up.

"I'm in contact with family on both sides now. It's a breathtaking time, it's completely life-changing."

The father-of-six was roughly two-weeks-old when he was left in the Odeon cinema and became the subject of numerous newspaper articles.

While police sought the individual responsible for abandoning him, he was taken to hospital for medical examinations.

He then went to Oaklands children's home in Droitwich, where he stayed until he was seven.

Mr Weston described the orphanage as an 'awful place' and remembers watching potential parents visit the children on Sundays.

"[I remember] standing at the window wondering who's going to be lucky enough to get taken for a picnic," he said.

"I had a bad episode at about four-years-old. I was taken out by a couple. Unpleasant stuff happened. They had me for two weeks and I was admitted to hospital with pneumonia."

At the age of seven he was taken to a court and asked by a judge if he wanted to leave the orphanage with a couple.

He agreed to the adoption and moved into The Hop Pole pub, in Friar Street, Droitwich, with his new parents, George and Irene Weston.

When he was eight the family relocated to Worcester and took over the Drakes Drum, in Dines Green.

His mum and dad later became landlords of the Plume of Feathers pub, in The Tything, Worcester, when he was 10 and he has happy memories of this period.

He can still remember the cigarette smoke from the pub coming up through the floorboards at night.

Mr Weston lived above the pub, which is now called the Cap 'N' Gown, for almost six years.

"I went to Samuel Southall School - Sammy's. That's when I started to get friends," he said.

He was so popular among his peers that he was even elected head captain of his form.

But despite his success he still had a longing to reunite with his biological parents.

"They [Mr Weston's adoptive parents] said we will help you where we can but we don't know the answers," he added.

"I had these people that loved me but I didn't know where I came from."

The pursuit of his biological parents was put on hold when he joined the navy at the age of 16.

He did not have a major breakthrough in his search until 2015, when he met 'DNA detective' Julia Bell.

Ms Bell got in touch with Mr Weston after spotting an appeal page on Facebook, which had been set up by his eldest daughter.

"She works with AncestryDNA. She explained that the best way is DNA. She started doing this mapping family tree stuff," he said.

Through DNA testing, Mr Weston managed to find various cousins and eventually tracked down his biological brother.

He established in January that his dad was a man called Charlie Charmers, who died in 1997.

His brother Larry Aston then confirmed the identity of his mother, Betty Aston, who had tragically died from meningitis aged 31.

"I was still in the children's home when she died. I held onto hope that she was still alive," he said.

He found out about her death in July and said he is still coming to terms with the news.

He also discovered that his father left his mother when she was pregnant with him.

Despite everything, Mr Weston said he does not judge either of his parents.

He has now found what he believes is his birth certificate - complete with his mother's signature.

It lists his date of birth as March 10, 1956, and also displays his name as Paul Kevin Aston.

Mr Weston is now trying to prove that he is Paul Aston, so he can legally adopt the identity.

He is thinking about changing his name - potentially to Robert Weston Aston-Chalmers - in tribute to both of his adoptive and biological parents.

His adoptive mother, Irene, passed away from cancer in 1975, when he was 19-years-old, and his adoptive dad, George, died in 2014.

Mr Weston has almost completed his search for his biological family but he is still interested in clarifying whether he has a sister.

"We suspect there's a sister. We are still searching for her. We suspect she was put up for adoption," he said.

"Larry was told that there was a girl. There was a letter from my mother to our father in Scotland.

"I'd like to appeal to her to get in touch."

He also appealed to an unknown person from Telford who made an anonymous call claiming they knew the identity of the individual that dropped Mr Weston in the Odeon New Street cinema.

Anyone who has any information that could help Mr Weston can email md@worcesternews.co.uk