Detectives investigating the discovery of a baby’s body at a waste management site believe she may have died up to three days before she was found.

West Yorkshire Police said the baby girl was “unlikely” to have been born in hospital but a post mortem examination to find the cause of her death was inconclusive.

A worker at Associated Waste Management (AWM) in Valley Road, Shipley, made the discovery of body parts belonging to the newborn child.

Detective Superintendent Sukhbir Singh, who is leading the investigation, told a press conference today the girl appeared to be white and died two or three days before being found.

He said police had received four calls from the public following an appeal to trace the mother of the full-term baby.

“The focus of the investigation is still focusing on finding the mother,” he said.

“I would urge her to come forward and for the wider community to contact West Yorkshire Police.

“We have a mother out there who has had a baby and it is unlikely that it would have been in hospital. It could have caused some distress and she may be in need of medical attention.

“Somebody must know who the mother of this child is and I would ask them to provide the key piece of information we need to find her.”

The waste plant remained closed yesterday as officers searched piles of rubbish including household waste, bricks, mortar, tin cans and wood in the hope of finding clues to the baby’s identity. A huge amount of rubbish from across West Yorkshire is sent to the site for processing, with 97 loads delivered on Wednesday – 51 from Bradford and the rest from elsewhere.

Det Supt Singh said: “This raises the possibility the newborn baby may be from an area of West Yorkshire other than Bradford or Leeds. We are trying to work out which geographic areas the refuse was collected and working closely with the forensic science services to find out where this baby came from.”

Workers at the AWM site were devastated by the discovery of the body among rubbish at 2.30am on Thursday.

Emergency services attended but it was confirmed that the girl was dead.

Gavin Fearnley, of AWM, said the company was continuing to help police with their enquiries.

Anyone with information should call Detective Sergeant Ian Lawrie on 0845 6060606.

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