A DETECTIVE today made a personal plea to the mother of the baby boy whose body was found in a Gwent canal to contact them.

The baby, who weighed five-and-a-half pounds, was found in a bag by the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal in Newbridge last Friday.

Detectives are still waiting for tests to show how the newborn baby died but it is believed he was dead for up to five weeks.

Despite repeated appeals, efforts to trace the infant's mother have failed. Now Detective Inspector Rhiannon Hodges has made a personal plea for the mother to contact them.

She said: "Your physical and mental wellbeing is of great concern to all of us. "The events leading up to last Friday's discovery must be causing you great distress and we need to help you.

"The pain you are experiencing won't go away on its own. You will probably feel like this for the rest of your life, unless you help us to understand where this little boy has come from, where he belongs.

"Perhaps you are frightened to come forward because you were forced to do something against your wishes. Perhaps you thought you had no choice, we want to help you feel safe again."

She added her welfare was the police concern and that they wanted to come to terms with what has happened to her little boy.

She also made a plea to the family of the mother. She said: "If you are troubled by the secret of what happened to the baby we will try to help.

"This little boy has no-one to speak up for him, he is all alone. "If you can be that person, we will give you all the help we can to deal with what has happened to you and your family."

Police will also be handing out posters with a picture of the green Lee bag that the baby was found in at the Newbridge fair tonight.

Anyone with information about the baby should call 01495 320308 or 320309.