A PIONEERING plan to remember a town's "forgotten" babies will lay the groundwork for the rest of the nation to follow, it was claimed yesterday.

Consultant Peter Roper made the claim as design drawings for a memorial to the thousands of babies buried in unmarked graves in Linthorpe Cemetery, Middlesbrough, were put on display.

Middlesbrough Borough Council is to build a memorial which will consist of a 3ft 6in granite post with a polished top carrying an evocative inscription and the outline of a baby's face, in front of a wall which will have spaces for plaques and candles.

The memorial has been earmarked for an area of the cemetery where 41 of more than 80 mass graves have been located.

Maureen Gibson, of the Care for Bereaved Parents group, said: "It is excellent. It will progress the grieving process.''

Mr Roper said: "Middlesbrough are pioneering the way forward with this. Although we design a large number of baby memorials, this is going to lead the way.

"It is a very sensitive concept for marking where the babies are buried."

It is only since about 1985 that stillborn babies have been given individual graves.

Until about 1975, unborn babies were buried in mass graves with up to 60 in an individual plot.

The public outcry over the retention of babies' organs at Alder Hey Hospital Liverpool, led parents on Teesside to question where their babies were buried, and reinforced calls for a proper memorial.

The parents' plight was first highlighted by The Northern Echo in July.

Middlesbrough council arranged the exhibition of plans for the memorial to coincide with a carol concert and performance by local folk singer and songwriter Richard Grainger.

Free coffee and mulled wine were provided to keep out to winter chill in the cemetery.