Villagers found a newborn baby abandoned near an allotment in Thailand.

Resident Saifon Khurasa, 51, was harvesting fresh produce from her vegetable patch when she heard the infant crying nearby in the Soi Mabsong Nongyai 10 area of Pattaya early morning on October 24.

She approached the source of the noise and was shocked to find a baby girl wrapped in a blanket next to a bloodstained fence made of iron sheets.

The frantic woman took the foundling inside her home and called the police for help.

Police Captain Surachai Chuaykhun of the Nong Prue Police Station said they received a report at 6 am.

He said: 'When we arrived, the villagers had already the newborn indoors. There were bruises and insect bites all over her body. Rescue workers cleaned her up and swaddled her in a cloth to warm her.

'Additionally, there were traces of blood dripping along the fence. The mother of the child is believed to have given birth in the middle of the night.'

Saifon claimed she had heard what sounded like bleating noises the night before.

She said: 'I thought the noises were from a baby goat that had wandered into the area. I was shocked that they were coming from a human child instead.'

The newborn was taken to the Bang Lamung Hospital for treatment and will be handed over to the Chonburi Child Welfare Home.

Police said they were reviewing CCTV footage and interviewing residents to track down the child's parents.