MORE than four decades after he was first given up for adoption, a Banbury man is on a mission to track down his mother who may still be in Oxfordshire.

Robert Sprittlehouse, 43, was born at the John Radcliffe Hospital on December 18, 1972 and was adopted by a local couple six months later.

Now armed with both the traces of a family history and a single photograph, the Bretch Hill resident is keen to finally get the "closure" he has been missing up until now.

He said: "I was eight or nine when I found out I was adopted. We just sat down and had a chat; it didn't matter to me at all, and it never has done.

"The desire to find biological parents is to get closure and complete the family. It's curiosity really."

So far a trawl through adoption records has revealed that Mr Sprittlehouse's biological mother was called Carol Wilson McKay.

In 1972 she was living in Sellwood Drive, Carterton and working as a clerk for a garden merchant.

Meanwhile his father, Staff Sergeant Robert George Bartlett, was born in Florida and had been stationed at USAF Upper Heyford at the time of Mr Sprittlehouse's birth.

He added: "From what I have tried to research I believe that Carol and George may have got married in 1974, but I am not totally sure of this.

"I know my father died in 1995 but as far as I know my mother is still alive."

Over the past few weeks Mr Sprittlehouse appealed on Facebook with what little he knew and was contacted by a long-lost cousin living in America.

He said: "She was only 10 years younger than my mum. She grew up with them and apparently it was my father who didn't want a family at the time, and it was his decision."

The cousin also provided Mr Sprittlehouse with a photograph of his parents, which may help jog the memories of people who may know where Carol is.

He said: "To see that for the first time was emotional. I have never had a picture of my mother or father, or what they used to look like; I can see similarities."

Adoptive parents Joan Sprittlehouse, a former hospital administrator, and Trevor Sprittlehouse, who used to be a planning officer for Cherwell District Council, have now both retired but still live in Banbury and have given their "full support" to their son's venture. He also grew up with a sister, Helen, the couple's biological daughter.

He said: "I don't think finding them would change me. I haven't got any grudges and I have grown up accepting that I'm adopted, and still say 'Mum and Dad' to my adoptive parents. I would just have two mums."

Do you have any information on a former Carterton resident Carol Wilson McKay, or a Carol Bartlett? Email hsomerville@nqo.com