Sarah Chilcott was nine-days-old when she was abandonded on a train in 1967

A woman abandoned as a baby on a train at Willesden Junction has made an appeal for her birth mother to come forward as she celebrates her 45th birthday today.

Sarah Chilcott is no closer to finding out the identity of her real mother after she was found on May 26, 1967, at just nine days old.

The research scientist, who grew up in Northolt with her late adopted parents, Peter and Valerie Chilcott, had no idea she was a “foundling baby” until she applied for her original birth certificate at the age of 40.

She hoped it would tell her who her birth parents were and help her trace them. Instead, she was plunged into a mystery.

She said: “Where the name for my parents should have been, it simply said: “unknown.” For place of birth it said: ‘Found on a train at Willesden Junction Station.’ “I was stunned. No woman abandons her baby unless she is desperate, and my heart went out to her.”

Since her shock discovery, Ms Chilcott has been investigating her abandonment by scouring old police, medical and social work reports to build a dossier about her poignant start in life.

She said: “I was found inside a Wallis carrier bag left on the luggage rack.

“I was dressed in a white nightdress with ‘Baby’ embroidered in pink on the bodice.”

Ms Chilcott has come across a name that has left her desperate for more information.

Three months after she was abandoned, police received a tip-off that her mother was a 17-year-old girl living in Willesden called Miss E Shepherd.

Although interviewed by police, the girl swiftly disappeared.

Ms Chilcott said: “All my research points to the fact that I was born at West Middlesex Hospital on May 17, 1967, to this young girl who lived in Willesden with her father and brothers.

“I have no idea what happened to her, but I’d love to find her and hope she has the courage to come forward. Despite what she has done, I still want to find her.”

If you can help Ms Chilcott, please email foundling.info@btinternet.com

All information will be treated in strict confidence.