A MOTHER-OF-SIX wept today as she told how a newborn baby girl was found inside a carrier bag in her back garden.

Catherine Anderson, of Neath Close, Brookhouse, Blackburn, spotted the bag propped up against a fence as she looked out of her kitchen window at 9am on Sunday.

The 61-year-old thought that the Next bag contained rubbish and decided to leave it.

But she was horrified when police knocked on her door three hours later and told her that a newborn baby girl had been found inside.

The baby was taken to Queen's Park Hospital where she was pronounced dead despite frantic efforts to revive her.

Detectives are due to question the 23-year-old baby's mother who is receiving treatment at the hospital.

They were alerted at 10.50am on Sunday after the mother, who had gone to the hospital seeking treatment, told medical staff that she had abandoned her newborn baby.

Mrs Anderson, who has six children, said: "When I saw the carrier bag I thought that somebody had just dumped it in my garden and that it was full of rubbish.

"I remember thinking that I would put it in my bin later in the day.

"A few hours later the police told me what they had found. I couldn't believe it.

"I don't think I could have coped with seeing the baby with my own eyes.

"What must have been going through the mind of whoever put it there? I have five daughters and one son of my own. I feel really upset. I can't get it out of my mind.

"I keep looking out of the window and imagining the tiny baby inside the bag. I keep wondering whether it would have been alive when I first saw it." Police said it was unclear whether the baby was alive when it was found.

The baby was taken to hospital in a police car and a number of police were said to be deeply affected by the incident.

The brother of the baby's mother said the whole family had been left "stressed" by the incident.

He said his sister was in hospital where she was "extremely stressed", but refused to comment further.

Detective Inspector Phil McEntee said: "The mother is being looked after at Queen's Park Hospital and is still not in a fit state to be spoken to.

"Obviously we are treating the matter in a sensitive way as possible and when the time is right we will talk to the mother.

"A post mortem examination has been carried out and the findings are still not clear we are waiting for the results of further tests."

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