Woman held in hunt for abandoned baby

Police search near Scout Moor

POLICE are today questioning a woman after a phone call sparked a major search for an abandoned newborn baby on moorland above Rochdale.

A 28-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of concealment of a birth.

After the mobile phone call from the Failsworth area on Tuesday night, officers feared that a girl had given birth and left the baby near the Owd Betts pub on the Rochdale-Edenfield border in Lancashire.

Despite searches yesterday by officers and police tracker dogs from Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, no girl or baby was found.

Forensic tests carried out on a bloody bag and knitted blanket discovered at the scene confirmed it was human blood.

Supt Steve Pemberton, from Burnley police, said they had been investigating the circumstances, treating it very seriously and sensitively.

School pupils in the Failsworth area were asked if they had any information and the search continued into the evening.

The woman was being medically assessed to establish whether she had given birth.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lancashire Constabulary on 01282-425001 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555 111.