Woman's call over baby 'killing'

The woman wept as she left the message

Detectives are trying to find a mother who phoned a health visitor and said her baby had been killed.

The woman, from Blackpool in Lancashire, left a message on an answerphone.

A team of officers is now contacting everyone on the case list of health visitor Rebecca Calvert.

Police say they do not know whether the claim is genuine or not but are taking it seriously.

The young woman was crying and said that her baby had been killed. Then the phone went dead

Blackpool Community Health Trust

Detective Sergeant Dave Leadbetter said: "Obviously, this female sounded very distressed.

"She's mentioned that some harm has come to her baby so we've got to treat it with the seriousness it deserves."

Twenty officers from Blackpool's Family Protection Unit and health visitors have started visiting all 224 families on Ms Calvert's list.

On Tuesday, children up to two were vetted. Children between two and five were visited on Wednesday.

The case has received a lot of publicity in the local media.

Ms Calvert works as a health visitor at Marton Medical Centre and covers visits for Doctors Wilson and Saunders based at the practice on Glastonbury Avenue.

Urgent help needed

Officers now want to hear from anyone who thinks they may know the identity of the woman.

A spokeswoman for Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Community Health Trust said: "The young woman was crying and said that her baby had been killed. Then the phone went dead.

"As time continues we are getting more and more concerned that there is a family in need of urgent help.

"Some young mother has witnessed an extremely distressing event and we need to find this family as soon as possible."

The health trust and the police say they hope the public will be patient while the authorities discover whether or not a serious crime has been committed.