Long lost brothers break down in tears after discovering they've lived just a mile apart for 50 years

Long lost brothers break down in tears after discovering they've lived just a mile apart for 50 years

Steve Belshaw learned of his half-brother Rob Hall on ITV's Long Lost Family when he was shown a picture of his mother provided by his then unknown sibling

Steve Belshaw was adopted at birth so never knew he had a half-brother (Image: ITV)

A man given up at birth has met a half-brother he never knew existed — but had lived just a mile away for 50 years.

Steve Belshaw’s mum, Frances Unsworth, was a pregnant 17-year-old when she placed a newspaper ad putting him up for adoption.

She made the heartbreaking decision after his father was killed in a motorbike accident and selected a couple she thought would be good parents for her child.

Half-brother Rob Hall lives just one mile away from Steve in Blackpool (Image: ITV)

Sadly, Frances died in 2004 and Steve, 54, never got to meet her. But thanks to Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell on ITV's LONG LOST FAMILY he learned of his half-brother Rob Hall.

Steve, of Blackpool, Lancs, had never seen a photo of Frances and wept when Davina produced one. She stunned him by saying: “Do you know where we got it? You have a half-brother called Rob"

And there was a further shock when he was told the 49-year-old had also been living in Blackpool the whole time.

After an emotional meeting, Steve said: “To have a little brother… I never saw this in my wildest dreams. Meeting Rob has allowed me to feel closer to my birth mother. He has got so many memories to share. All that will help to build a much clearer picture of the kind of person she was.”

Long Lost Family presenters Nicky Campbell and Davina McCall (Image: ITV)

On his mum’s decision, Steve said: “To have lost her boyfriend, the father of her child, I can only see her world fall apart. It’s unusual to advertise your unborn child but I think it’s an extraordinarily loving thing to do.

“And knowing she had gone to all that trouble to find the most suitable parents speaks volumes about her character. If I had one chance, it would be to say ‘thank you’.”

Steve is shown a picture of his mother Frances in the show (Image: ITV)

A letter written by Steve's mum concerning his adoption (Image: ITV)

Steve was told Frances, who worked in a sweet factory, would mention him to Rob. He said: “To know that makes me enormously happy.”

After being told of his mum’s newspaper advert for the first time, Rob said: “That’s heartbreaking.” And he added after the tearful meeting with Steve: “I hope we will be friends as well as brothers. I think we will be.”
Long Lost Family continues on ITV at 9pm on Wednesday.