Waste centre staff at Sackers found the body of a newborn baby girl in with recycling material, it has been revealed.

The officer leading the investigation into the baby’s death has today praised staff at the site Ipswich Road, Needham Market for their actions following the tragic discovery, and again appealed for her mother to come forward and seek medical help.

Detective Chief Superintendent Eamonn Bridger said on BBC Radio Suffolk today of the staff: “It was a horrendous experience for them to have to go through, but fair play to them, they made the right calls.”

He continued: “We are absolutely desperate to speak to the mother of the baby because it is our current thinking it was likely the baby was born in the last 48 hours.

“We can only imagine the emotional and physical distress the lady has been through. It is essential she gets the help from medical professionals she needs.

“I’d make a direct appeal to her to come forward to get the help she requires - if any other members of the public have any information they think may be helpful to help us identify that lady we would ask they pass it to us directly or anonymously through Crimestoppers.”

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Det Ch Supt Bridger again reiterated the force’s top priority is ensuring the mother is safe and well.

He added:“The priority at the moment is her welfare and wellbeing.

“There are professionals who will be able to help her. We are keeping a really open mind about the nature of the investigation, it is absolutely right that we do so and at the right time we will deal with what we need to. But at this time, the absolute priority is her wellbeing.

“There will be more investigative work to be done there today and there is a dedicated team of officers working on this case, who continued through the night and we will continue to follow all lines of inquiry to understand what happened to this poor baby girl and identify her mother.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Sackers said: “First and foremost we want to send our condolences out everyone involved in this tragic situation.

“Our recycling sorting facilities are so thorough that we believe the baby was found very quickly once it was at our Needham Market site.

“Our main priority now is to support our staff members who were involved in this incident and assist the police with their investigation. Therefore, the site will be closed tomorrow and until further notice.”

Those with any information that may aid Suffolk police in their inquiry should contact the force on 101, quoting CAD reference 213 of May 14 2020.

Alternatively, the charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously by calling 0800 555 111.