Mr Archer said he had introduced himself properly to the man, and they shook hands and exchanged names.
“I’m thinking, ‘that’s my father’s name’,” he said.
“It was the only description that my mum ever gave me. She always said he was a nice guy – I analysed the conversation; he was lovely.
“I wasn’t analysing his face and thinking: ‘Do we look alike?’ I just knew his name, short, nice guy. All three boxes were ticked. I thought, one in a million – why not?”
As the man went to leave, Mr Archer called out to him, and asked him for a quick chat, then asked him if he knew a woman by his mother’s name.
The reply: “Yes, but 20-odd years ago.”
“He kind of just froze, and we were both standing there awkwardly,” said Mr Archer, whose follow-up sentence was: “I think I might be your son.”
He added: “This all happened in the space of three or four minutes of talking. It just so happened our lives crossed paths.”