A search has begun for the mother of a three-hour old baby abandoned on a freezing school playing field.

Two boys, both 16, found the newborn child , wrapped in a pink blanket, in bushes at the Daubeney Middle School in the village of Kempston in Bedford. They contacted an 18-year-old friend with a car and all three rushed her to hospital .

Bedfordshire police have praised the "quick and speedy efforts" of the boys who raised the alarm at 1.30pm.

The little girl is now said to be safe and well at the Bedford South Wing Hospital .

It is not thought she had been left exposed to the icy conditions for long, but police said attempts had been made to hide the child with "twigs and leaves".

Officers remain concerned for the welfare of the baby's mother and have appealed for her to get in touch urgently.

Detective Sergeant David Cartwright, leading the hunt for the new mum, said: “Whatever the reason for this woman abandoning her child, we can help and tell her that the baby is alive and well.

“The nursing staff at the Bedford South Wing Hospital, where the teenage boys took her, say that she was only two or three hours old when she was taken to them

“Undoubtedly it is due to the quick and sensible thinking of these boys that the baby is alive. The weather conditions are absolutely freezing."

Gary Sanderson, spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service, said the police had asked staff to keep an eye out for a young woman who might be in distress.

"The baby is very lucky to have survived being abandoned in such freezing and foggy conditions. The temperature in the area is about minus five degrees - it is bitter. The boys who found her are no doubt the heroes of the day,” he added.

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