A new-born baby found naked and dead in a lonely North Yorkshire copse could have been abandoned a month ago.

BODY SEARCH: Police officers comb the area in woods at Burythorpe Bridge, near Norton, where the baby's body was found

Police today issued a fresh appeal for help in tracing the baby's mother, whom they believe may have been a desperate teenage mum who had kept her pregnancy a secret.

They fear the woman could be extremely distressed and in urgent need of medical care.

But so far media appeals for help have resulted in only a "minuscule" response from the public.

The decomposing body of the baby boy was discovered by a walker on Friday in a wooded area near Burythorpe Bridge, on the Norton to Stamford Bridge road.

Sergeant Ian Fieldsend said the man had been "very distressed" by his chance discovery of the decomposing and naked body.

He said it was possible the baby might never have been found, had the man not happened to pass by.

A police search party combed the area over the weekend. Several items were found and sent for forensic examination.

A post mortem revealed the baby could have been dead for up to a month, but failed to determine the cause of death.

Det Chief Insp Barry Honeysett, leading the inquiry, said: "We believe it was a new-born baby and so one possible scenario is that it has been abandoned by its mother, who may herself be in some distress or difficult circumstances.

"It could be that she is a very young mother and while we are seeking to establish events leading up to this death, we also have the welfare of the mother upper most in our minds."

He appealed for anyone who may know the mother to contact police. "If anyone who knows of a woman or a girl who has had some sort of traumatic experience that could be related to this incident, they should get in touch."

He urged motorists who regularly travelled between Norton and Stamford Bridge to cast their minds back to anything suspicious they may have noticed in the last month.

"It is possible that the body has been lying in that isolated spot, near Burythorpe Bridge, for up to a month, and we are appealing to anyone who travels the road between Norton and Stamford Bridge to contact us if they remember noticing anything suspicious.

Sergeant Fieldsend said today there had been just three calls so far from the public.

He said further forensic tests were likely.

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