Waste plant body was newborn girl

6:29am Thursday 28th August 2008

The body of a newborn baby found at a waste recycling centre was a girl, police said.

A worker at the plant, in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, made the discovery.

Police said a post-mortem examination had proved "inconclusive" and the infant's exact age was still unknown.

Earlier, at a press conference at Cambridgeshire police headquarters in Huntingdon, Det Insp Jim McCrorie appealed for the mother to come forward.

"Our thoughts have turned to the mother of this baby and we are concerned that she may need some help," he said.

"We are urging her to go to her local hospital to get the attention she may need.It may be that she wants to speak to officers who are looking into the baby's death."

DI McCrorie, who is leading a team of 15 officers investigating the death, said the recycling plant takes waste from around the Peterborough area and throughout the Midlands.

He said it was not known where the baby was from, or how long it had lain undiscovered.

Police said the body was found among recyclable rubbish at the plant.

The site is owned by Peterborough City Council and is run by Viridor Waste Management.