FAMILY man Mark West has made an emotional appeal to be reunited with his mother who abandoned him in a department store 39 years ago.

Mark was just four days old when he was discovered in a toilet cubicle in Lewis's, Manchester, in 1964.

Weighing 5lbs, dressed in a jumper and wrapped in a flannel sheet, Mark was nestled in a paper carrier bag and carefully placed behind the toilet.

He was taken to Booth Hall Hospital, where he became a favourite with nurses and spent time at Rose Hill Nursery, in Northenden, before he was fostered at the age of four months, then adopted a year later.

Mark was told he was adopted by his parents at the age of 11 but it wasn't until six weeks ago that he learned the truth about his origins.

Since then he has been reunited with the nurse who cared for him in hospital, Geraldine Kevill, and the lady who discovered him, Barbara Carter, who lives in Tottington.

But there remains an important period in his life that Mark wants clearing up.

He said: "There are four days unaccounted for. I was four days old when I was abandoned and to most people four days means nothing, but to me it means a lot. I just want to find my mum. I feel no hurt towards her, I am sure there are good reasons why she did what she did. It probably wasn't down to her, after all it was in the 1960s and things were different then."

Mark (39), a plasterer, lives in Whitefield with his wife, Aldona, and has two daughters.

After learning he was adopted as a child, Mark said he did not think much about it until adulthood.

It wasn't until his father suffered health problems recently that Mark started to probe further and the truth came out.

"I needed to know if I had any medical history," he said, "When my adoptive dad fell ill I started to think about it. It was a shock to discover I had been left by somebody. I was gobsmacked actually."

The discovery of baby Mark hit the national headlines and his adoptive mum revealed she had kept a newspaper clipping from all those years ago.

Mark said: "They are happy for me to do this. My mum would even like to meet my real mum if I find her."

Anyone with information can contact Mark on 07909 785500.