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A father-of-two accused of being missing Ben Needham hopes his ten-year torment will finally end after his DNA was taken.

Ben Gleave agreed to having the test done at his home and believes it will prove once and for all he has no connection with the other Ben.

Local police will now send the sample to officers in South Yorkshire who are co-ordinating the hunt for Ben.

The dad believes it will prove once and for all he has no connection with the tot who went missing while on holiday with his parents on the Greek island of Kos in 1991.

His mother Kerry Needham has never given up hope that her son will be found.

(Image: PA)

The other Ben, 28, who now lives in Bangor, Northern Ireland, says his life has been turned upside down since a friend of his mother decided years ago he was the missing kid after spotting their “similarity”­ in an age-progression image.

The woman, a neighbour in Nova Scotia, Canada, told police and Ben gave a swab to Canadian officers in 2005.

But it only emerged at the weekend that these tests had vanished after they were sent to a private eye in

the UK and not to South Yorks officers.

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Ben, who because of the blunder was never officially ruled out, said his life had been turned “upside down” because of the claims.

Mr Gleave, a Slimming World consultant, said: “I feel like I’ve committed a crime and need to clear my name. But neither I nor my mother have done anything wrong.

“In a way I wish for Kerry Needham’s sake that I was her son, but I don’t believe I am. My heart goes out to her.

“I have two children, aged six and eight, and if I was separated from them for 24 days, let alone 24 years, I’d go out of my mind. just don’t think I’m the happy ending to the Needham story and I’m sorry for them about that.

(Image: Alan Lewis)

“My suffering is nothing compared to hers but I’m finding it hard to cope with this and I feel the only way to get back to normality is to tell people what really happened.”

He said the tangled tale began when the neighbour alerted Royal Canadian Mounted Police over fears he had no birth certificate, did hold a passport and had moved around a lot.

She told police his mum had changed her son’s name from Ben Stockdale to Ben Gleave when he was six years old following a second marriage. She recalled being told that almost all the family photos had been dumped in error.

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Mr Gleave said: “Madeleine Ranson still believes my true identity is Ben Needham and there’s no convincing her otherwise."

After hearing about the latest bizarre twist, missing Ben’s mum Kerry, 43, said she was “hugely relieved” officers investigating Ben’s disappearance had taken swift action.

Kerry said she knew nothing about Mr Gleave’s story until she saw his picture in a newspaper at the weekend.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

She said: “This was one of many lines of inquiry held by Interpol for many years but for whatever reason had not been concluded.”

Sadly for the heartbroken mum, she does not believe Mr Gleave holds the key which will end her 24-year nightmare.

“I’d never heard of this man before but when I saw his picture I immediately thought he looked nothing like our family,” she said. “I don’t think for one minute he is Ben and I’m really sorry to hear he has been distressed by this ordeal.

“All this drama has had an effect on him but not on us - because our hopes have not been raised.

“Last year I was convinced a Greek gypsy who came forward was Ben and so was he. He was the double of my daughter. Here was an instant personal connection there. It felt right.

“I was so convinced that we had to do four DNA tests to convince me. I just didn’t believe they had come back negative.”

South Yorkshire Police said: “The force will not provide a running commentary relating to lines of enquiry that are being progressed while the investigation is ongoing.”