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Is this one of the earliest pictures in circulation of a very young Paul McCartney, with his even younger brother, Mike?

It was taken at Oglet Shore, near Speke, possibly in the late 1940s – and a reader is convinced it’s the McCartney boys.

We showed the photograph to Mike McCartney, who told us: “I couldn’t say it is definitely us, but it might well be!

“I’d say there is a 50/50 chance it’s us. We did wear shorts like that with the braces on. Our hair did look like that. And the height difference between the two boys looks right as our kid is 18 months older than me.”

Then there is the girl standing next to the boy who could be Paul...

Mike says: “There was a girl, whose name I can’t remember – she was our next door neighbour in Western Avenue, Speke (we were number 72, so she would have been 70 or 74). She was more our kid’s age, and she did look like the girl standing next to the boy in the photo who could be Paul. It’s a fascinating story!”

He adds: “We did walk down to Oggie Shore a lot and, as for the clothes, my mum was a very proud woman and if those shorts with braces attached were worn by the young royals, then we should wear them!

“If it is us, then it must be one of the oldest photographs of us together that is in the public domain. But it is clear that we are not the focus of it – we’re in the background, so we’re very early photobombers!”

Self-confessed “Beatles anorak” Peter Hodgson, from Kirkby, says: “I came across the photo in an archived story on the ECHO website about Oglet Shore receiving money to tidy it up.”

The image was also used in Ken Pye’s 2008 book Discover Liverpool, a Trinity Mirror publication, and Ken says: “I can’t say whether it is Paul and Mike towards the back of the photograph, but I think that’s the charm of the story!”

But Peter Hodgson is convinced it’s the McCartneys. And he adds: “The ECHO story said that the McCartneys and George Harrison had often visited the shore as children, so I decided to enlarge the photo and examine it. A couple of days previously, I had been on the blog of my friend, Mark Ashworth, and it featured childhood photos of Paul and Mike – and they were wearing braced up shorts.

“There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that it’s them. Although they are not the focus of the photograph, Paul is facing the photographer – no doubt practising for what his destiny would bring – while Mike is looking out to the Mersey.

“What clinched it for me was the girl standing with Paul and Mike – she is wearing a white dress and has a white ribbon in her hair. I immediately remembered seeing a photograph of a young Paul sitting in his backyard in Speke, and next to him was a girl wearing a white dress and with a white ribbon in her hair. It’s got to be the girl on the beach with Paul and Mike!”

Maybe it is – or maybe it isn’t.

Can you help solve the McCartney mystery? Are you the girl – or a relative of the girl – standing next to the boys who could be Paul and Mike? Please email paddyshennan@liverpoolecho.co.uk