A baby girl has been laid to rest more than a year after her remains were discovered among rubbish at a recycling plant in Shipley .

Prayers were said yesterday in memory of the tragic youngster, named Baby Catherine, who was found by staff at Associated Waste Management (AWM) in Valley Road in May last year.

About 100 people attended a funeral service at St Winefride’s Church in Wibsey to pay their respects to the child, whose mother has not been found despite an extensive police investigation.

The baby, believed to have been only two or three days old, was named after The Duchess of Cambridge by members of nearby Sandale Community Centre in Woodside , who helped organise the service along with staff at AWM.

Afterwards her remains, carried in a small pink coffin, were buried in the Snowdrop Garden at Scholemoor Cemetery.

An arrangement of white and pink flowers, paid for by the community centre, carried the message: “Our darling baby Catherine. It was an absolute honour to cherish you this day.”

After the service, Andy Walsh, the centre’s manager, said: “Our mother and toddler group, who met on the day she was found, wanted to do something to give her a respectful send-off. She came in to the world with nothing and went out like a princess. It was very emotional how many people were there, standing up for a baby no-one knew.”

Since the discovery of the remains, officers have sent 37,000 letters appealing for information to homes.

Detectives now have a DNA profile of the baby, whose delivery is not believed to have taken place in a hospital. A post-mortem examination failed to ascertain a cause of death.

Although a matching profile of the mother is not on record, the new profile has proved of assistance in furthering the investigation, police have said.

Detective Superintendent Sukhbir Singh, who is leading the investigation, said: “We are glad young Catherine has now been laid to rest, but the ceremony does not in any way mark an end to our search to find her mother.

“Detectives have conducted a painstaking inquiry over the last 12 months which has made progress in helping us gain a DNA profile for the baby and better direct the focus of our inquiries. We have always said the answer to this inquiry lies within the local communities in West Yorkshire and continue to believe that is the case.

“Catherine may have only had a very short life, but she deserves to be remembered and we would again ask her mother to come forwards, speak to us, and identify her daughter.”

Anyone with information should contact Detective Sergeant Ian Lawrie on (01924) 334676, e-mail oppegar@west yorkshire.pnn.police.uk or call CrimeStoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555111.