Baby's body found at waste site

An examination found the baby was not stillborn

The body of a newborn baby boy has been discovered in a black bin liner at a Lincolnshire waste site.

The baby's body was found wrapped in a heavily bloodstained cloth at the Greenstar Recycling Plant near Skegness on Thursday morning.

A worker checking for glass in material brought to the site for recycling made the find, said police.

A search is now on to trace the mother. Police believe she could be in urgent need of medical help.

Detectives believe the mother may be from the Skegness area as household bins were collected in the town earlier in the week and delivered to the plant on Wednesday.

However, officers are not discounting the possibility that the mother could have come from anywhere in the country.

Police confirmed a failed abortion is not an option being considered.

Traumatic birth

Post-mortem tests have yet to determine the cause of death but an examination found the baby was not stillborn.

The boy was white and DNA tests are being carried out to determine his nationality.

A pair of jogging bottoms were discovered along with the baby

Det Ch Insp Stuart Gibbon, who is leading the investigation, said: "At this stage we are investigating the death of a baby who was probably no more than two or three days old.

"I think it's fair to say from the post-mortem (examination) that the birth was a traumatic birth and also that there was no professional presence when the baby was delivered.

"It's perfectly possible that this woman or girl has given birth without anybody being there or with anybody who knew what they were doing."

Police said part of the umbilical cord was in the bag with the dead baby boy, who had probably died this week.

It is understood the infant suffered a number of injuries after death as a result of being put in the back of a dustcart.

National search

Also discovered in the bag were a woman's pair of tan-coloured jogging bottoms and a pair of pants. All the items were heavily bloodstained and the body was wrapped in a second bag which had been used to hold toilet roll, police said.

"The most important thing for me is for the mum to come forward," Det Ch Insp Gibbon added.

"There's no question that she will be distressed and in need of urgent medical attention and this is a direct appeal for her to contact us so we can hopefully get to the bottom of what has happened."

Police said they were doing checks with hospitals and doctors' surgeries as well as with the NHS nationally.

The recycling site is on an industrial estate near Skegness and handles both commercial and local authority waste.

Greenstar said it had no comment at this time.