Hunt for airport baby's mother

An international search was mounted last night to find the mother of a newborn baby boy found abandoned in a toilet at Heathrow airport.

The 7lb baby is doing well - despite having been dumped in a bin soon after he was born on Monday. The infant was found in the "airside" area of terminal four, past immigration and customs, and it is assumed that the mother must have boarded a flight after giving birth.

Airport authorities were alerted after a passenger told them she could hear crying noises. The baby was taken to Ashford hospital in Middlesex where staff named him Timothy Ian after the two ambulance men who found him.

A hospital spokesman said: "He was abandoned when he was just an hour old and is being cared for in the special baby unit, but he is warm and comfortable at the moment.

"Obviously we urgently want to find the mother's whereabouts and she may need medical attention. We would appeal for her to come forward."

Heathrow airport said this was the first time a baby had been abandoned at the airport. A spokesman added it would be extremely difficult to track down the mother of the baby."About 10 to 11 million people pass through terminal four every year so we are talking about thousands and thousands every day," he said.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard appealed for anyone with information to come forward.