POLICE have traced the mother of a newborn baby found dead on a supermarket car park in Bilston today.

Officers were alerted by a member of the public who made the tragic discovery at the car park of Morrisons on the Black Country Route just after 9am this morning (Sunday April 11).

A spokesman for West Midlands Police had said earlier today: "At the moment we do not know when they were born or how they came to be in the car park.

"We’re extremely concerned for the welfare of the baby’s mother, and urgently appealing for her or anyone who knows who she is to come forward."

Det Insp Jim Edmonds, from the force's public protection unit, said: “This is a truly tragic discovery, and we’ve been treating the scene and the baby with the utmost care and dignity today.

“While we don’t yet know what has happened, what we do know is that there must be a mother out there who is in real need of help − and she is my absolute priority at the moment."

Later on they revealed that they had found the mother as a result of the appeal and "she is now receiving appropriate care."

They added: "We will be speaking to her in due course.

"Thank you to everyone for sharing the appeal."