Taxi Driver's Passenger Is His Long-Lost Son

LONDON (Reuters) - A taxi driver has found the son he last saw 34 years ago -- as a fare in the back of his cab.

The chance reunion came when Barry Bagshaw, 61, picked up a fare at a motel near Brighton in southern England.

A short time into the journey, the woman accompanying the man in the back spotted the driver's identity badge and noticed he had the same surname as her boyfriend.

``The blood just drained out of me when he said 'I'm your son','' Barry told BBC radio. ``I didn't recognize him at first. It certainly won't be another 34 years before I see him again.''

His son Colin, 39, a chef, who was about to leave the area for good, had thought his father was dead -- even though they found they lived just streets apart.

Barry, who has another son and a daughter, lost touch with his children when his marriage broke down while he was serving in the army in Hong Kong.

-- (cin@cin.cin), August 11, 2001